Customer Reviews

Texas Literary Outlaws: Six Writers in the Sixties and Beyond

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Documenting and influencing the evolving Texas culture of the sixties, the six authors studied in Steven L. Davis's Texas Literary Outlaws were right at the center of the action. There for the Kennedy assassination, Lyndon Johnson's transformation from senator to president, the brawl over Jim Crow laws, the birth of Texas Monthly magazine, and Ann Richard's rise to prominence, these authors were practically inseparable from the issues they wrote about.

Davis deftly picks apart the knot of the Mad Dogs' relationships to their work and each other in what Patrick Beach of the Austin American-Statesman calls "a heroic work resting on a sturdy tripod of extensive scholarship, fluid writing and trenchant but bottomlessly humane criticism." This work is a great read for anyone interested in the rowdy days of Texas's recent history.

Jack Kerouac and his circle of pals used to occupy the literary "high" ground when it came to legendary escapades involving strange and rowdy behavior from writerly types who managed nevertheless to produce enduring books and other good reading matter through the fog of illegal smoking materials, non-prescription mood-elevators, and cheap whiskey. The Beats occupied that position in the minds of the cognoscenti in places like New York City, that is. Now, however, bookish folk who favor the Lone Star State over the Left or Right Coasts can rejoice-Steve Davis has done America (as well as our good neighbors to the south and north) a long-overdue service by providing those among us who actually read books a fascinating and detailed (and at times downright hilarious) look into the lives and careers of a posse of self-described "Mad Dog" Texas scribes who, in the 1960s and after, have made Kerouac and his boys look like nothing so much as well-mannered cub scouts. Larry L. King, Bud Shrake, and Gary Cartwright are the true stars of this book, and if you don't recognize those names, you are evidently not from Texas-but shame on you, nonetheless. Peter Gent, Dan Jenkins, and the late Billie Lee Brammer round out the list of outlaws, but appearances by such luminaries as former Texas governor Ann Richards, C&W stars Jerry Jeff Walker and Willie Nelson, football legends Don Meredith and Tom Landry, not to mention Jack Ruby's star stripper Jada with her Girl Scout cookie tins filled with marijuana, are themselves worth the price of the book. Texas Literary Outlaws ought to top the New York Times' Best Seller list. It won't-it's far too well written. Believe it.

As the publicist for the late Peter Gent and acquaintance of the late Bud Shrake and thankfully still-living (despite the outlaw writers' lifestyle) Gary Cartwright, I can vouch for the authenticity of Davis' account of the "gonzo" reporting and writing of the "Texas Literary Outlaws." Not just for fans of Texas writing but of the whole scope of what was going on in America in the 1960's and 1970's, this is an essential purchase. Between them, they produced a body of work that was as good as any in the nation. Davis' style is highly readable in reporting on the triumphs and tragedies of these unique personalities, bound together by their love of writing.

Great Journalists, Okay Novelists, Lousy Men. That could be the subtitle of Stephen Davis's TEXAS LITERARY OUTLAWS which chronicles the literary careers of writers Larry King, Peter Gent, Dan Jenkins, Edwin Shrake, Gary Cartwright, and Billy Lee Brammer. The common denominators are Texas, friendship (they labelled themselves the 'Mad Dogs'), Democratic politics, hatred of Tom Landry,adherence to the "New Journalism," excessive drug use, partying and horrible personal lives.

In regard to literary talent, Shrake claims the top spot. BLESSED MCGILL and STRANGE PEACHES stand the test of time. In regard to name recognition, Jenkins outdistances the rest of the lot combined, his SEMI-TOUGH remaining one of the recognized books of the 70s. Interestingly, he is also the only one who grows up once the 70s arrive. King comes off as beyond selfish and not as talented as he thinks. Brammer is a one hit wonder who spends the last two decades of his life lost in drugs. Cartwright never achieves the fame of his fellow Fort Worth alum Shrake and Jenkins. Gent becomes famous for NORTH DALLAS FORTY, but lacks any lasting literary chops. They are all friends, something that can be attested to here on Amazon as Shrake can be found writing positive reviews for his close friends Jenkins and King.

By far the biggest complaint that I have with the book is Davis' virtual lifting of paragraphs from Michael MacCambridge's THE FRANCHISE. While he might footnote things at the end of a paragraph, Davis follows what MacCambridge wrote, particularly about Jenkins, to the point that the only Jenkins' quotes he has are from THE FRANCHISE, often in the same narrative. Was Davis thinking no one would read both books? The laziness is off the chart.Putting in "he" for "Jenkins" and ending a quote at a different point is not first rate investigative reporting. Those sections were excruciating to read and made me wonder what else was ripped off in the book.