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Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies
 
 
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Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Taking my life is inconceivable to me..." (more)
Key Phrases: dream section, club judges, publication day, Raintree County, Carol Lynn, New York (more...)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Price: $21.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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20 new from $4.94 38 used from $0.36

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  Hardcover -- $18.50 $0.23
  Paperback $21.00 $4.94 $0.36

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Raintree County by Ross Lockridge

Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies + Raintree County
  • This item: Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies by John Leggett

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Raintree County by Ross Lockridge

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A great book." -- Leon Edel

"A thoroughly absorbing and finally most moving chronicle of what two best-selling authors did and suffered in homage to what William James called the American bitch goddess--the success business." -- Alfred Kazin

"Enthralling...ought to be read by all editors, publishers, writers, and critics and by the general reading public...the best case-history account of the writing profession in America." -- James A. Michener


Product Description

Here, at last back in print, is the classic dual biography of Ross Lockridge and Thomas Heggen, two authors who achieved sudden fame and fortune and then self-destructed. Ross Lockridge, the author of the spectacularly best-selling Raintree County, and Thomas Heggen, the creator of Mister Roberts, both were thrust in the 1940s into unexpected fame and money. Each was young and inexperienced in the ways of the world. John Leggett explores their lives, their loves, their friendships, and their writing and publishing experiences to discover what ultimately and tragically failed them. Ross and Tom portrays two gifted writers and their final descent into that Fitzgeraldian crack-up where "in the real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning."

Product Details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 1, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0306809923
  • ISBN-13: 978-0306809927
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,562,609 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

More About the Author

John Leggett
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Visit Amazon's John Leggett Page

Inside This Book (learn more)


What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies
63% buy the item featured on this page:
Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies 4.0 out of 5 stars (3)
$21.00
Shade of the Raintree: The Life and Death of Ross Lockridge, Jr.
19% buy
Shade of the Raintree: The Life and Death of Ross Lockridge, Jr. 4.2 out of 5 stars (6)
Raintree County
17% buy
Raintree County 4.9 out of 5 stars (23)
$13.57
House Divided
1% buy
House Divided 4.8 out of 5 stars (17)
$18.21

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Two Literary Tragedies, May 6, 2004
By Peter L. Winkler "Word King" (North Hollywood, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Before "narrative nonfiction" became a buzzword in publishing, John Leggett wrote this superb dual biography of Ross Lockridge and Tom Heggen, both of whom experienced fantastic early success which they couldn't follow, leading to depression and suicide. Although Lockridge's son Larry has recently published his biography of his father with an understandable mission to correct what he sees as failings in Leggett's book, I think Lockridge gives us far too much detail and insufficient drama.

Leggett's book is tremendously readable, like a great novel, yet grounded in fact all the way. I only have one caveat, which is Leggett's attempt to interpret both writers' lives and deaths within some Freudian framework, but this is only done briefly and doesn't damage the book greatly. I've read Ross and Tom several times in the twenty odd years since I first bought a used hardcover edition, and it is a great book.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A biography that has stayed with me for 20 years, November 10, 2003
By Robin Wolaner (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have treasured the hardcover of this book since it came out. If you are interested in the lives of writers, or the price of early success, or just in a brilliant biography, you should read this book.
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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars DISTORTED - SEE THE ALTERNATE VERSION, March 5, 2004
By Donald A. Newlove (Greenwich Village) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Readers of ROSS AND TOM should read Ross Lockridge, Jr.'s son Larry Lockridge's version of his father's mental illness that led to his suicide. That's called SHADE OF THE RAINTREE and is both a compelling biography as well as an insightful review of what we knew about depression in the 1940s and what we know about it today. I've read both of these books, as well as RAINTREE COUNTY, which for me is a great American novel whose day will return. I find Legget's version of this wondrous author as distorted as a funhouse mirror.
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