The Big Rich: The Rise And Fall Of The Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
The book recounts the beginning of the Texas oil boom beginning with Spindletop outside of Beaumont, Texas. The discussion of how the Big Four (Roy Cullen, H. L. Hunt—bigamist, Sid Richardson, and Clint Murchison) independently wrestled their fortunes from the ground or from others was the most intriguing aspect of the book. I was surprised with how little I could tolerate the discussion of politics. Bryan Burroughs dropped several notches in my estimation. When reading this book because he seemed out to villainize the men. Undoubtedly, there were serious characters among their ranks, but they weren’t all bad. In fact, some did much good. (Roy Cullen donated hundreds of millions of 1930 dollars to Houston hospitals and universities.) The part about Glen McCarthy’s Shamrock hotel in Houston was really interesting. I don’t think I would recommend this book to anyone. A wonderful cast of characters that could only be real. They are too bizarre to be fictional and could only be Texans. I always keep wondering why Texans have such a need to be "big" and "bragging" when the whole place was created by Austin, Houston, Crockett and the others to be part of the United States. Why do they feel so inadequate? Oh, yes, this is a fun book to read; too bad the Texans take it all so seriously.
What do You think about The Big Rich: The Rise And Fall Of The Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes (2009)?
A great historical story of the oil industry and the fortunes and characters it created in Texas.
—beth
Great history of the early independant oil man drilling in Texas and Louisiana.
—SESimpson
Good book if you grew up in the oilfield culture of 5o's Texas as I did.
—apostlejb
Boring. I didn't care about any of the people in this book.
—djvoleur
I am reading this for work and am loving it!
—rara04
