Characters. Texans and Texas always seem to be larger than life. In his book, The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes, Bryan Burrough presents a cast of larger than life characters and their personal stories that combine to tell memorable stories about rags to riches to not-quite-rags. The big four oil fortunes are covered in detail, those created by Roy Cullen, H.L. Hunt, Clint Murchison and Sid Richardson. There are side stories about lesser luminaries that add to a reader’s understanding of the times and the impact of these individuals on life today. Burrough’s framework is that of a journalist more than a historian, but his research seems thorough, and there’s a liveliness to his writing that makes these stories a pleasure to read. The pratfalls of these characters wouldn’t be believable in fiction, but these individuals provided ample material for a book twice the size of this one, say Texas-sized. For sheer entertainment value, read The Big Rich, and enjoy the bonus of learning a lot about Texas big oil money.
Rating: Four-star (Highly Recommended)
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