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Doc  By  cover art

Doc

By: Mary Doria Russell
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
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Editorial reviews

Mary Doria Russell's last two novels have been works of historical fiction, and Doc demonstrates that she's clearly found her groove in the genre. The premise of the book is at once both iconic and imaginative, treating the beginnings of friendship between Doc Holliday and the Earp clan several years before all the fuss at the O.K. Corral. These are not hardened lawmen, but struggling young men with simple dreams of financial stability and good health. Mark Bramhall does an impeccable job with the voice work, taking on these enormously well known characters and adding a sensitive depth of uncertainty. After all, at this moment in history, John Henry Holliday is just a dentist who plays a bit of poker, and Wyatt Earp is merely a part-time officer of the peace who is hoping to breed racehorses. They are thrown together out of concern for a mutual acquaintance, John Horse Sanders, a mixed-race man who died in a fire but who may have been murdered before the fire got started.

It's a straightforward Western mystery with a surprising amount of intricate narration. Mark Bramhall is a prize when it comes to character acting, so he handles the various Southern accents, from Georgia to Texas to Kansas, without even breaking a sweat. But everyone knows Doc Holliday died of consumption at a young age. Doc's dialogue is riddled with hacking, coughing, spluttering and spitting. Bramhall manages to insert all of these credibly, yet without disrupting the flow of the story or ruining Doc's many profound punch lines. It's particularly a treat to hear him voicing Doc's fiery gypsy whore, Kate. Switching between Western and Hungarian accents seems difficult enough, but Kate is also fluent in a number of other languages, and Bramhall delivers the French and Latin with an easy grace. Russell's slow and steady narrative is bound to delight, but as with all good Westerns, it's the drawling sound of the place that will make it truly enchanting. Megan Volpert

Publisher's summary

The year is 1878, peak of the Texas cattle trade. The place is Dodge City, Kansas, a saloon-filled cow town jammed with liquored-up adolescent cowboys and young Irish hookers. Violence is random and routine, but when the burned body of a mixed-blood boy named Johnnie Sanders is discovered, his death shocks a part-time policeman named Wyatt Earp. And it is a matter of strangely personal importance to Doc Holliday, the frail 26-year-old dentist who has just opened an office at No. 24, Dodge House.

Beautifully educated, born to the life of a Southern gentleman, Dr. John Henry Holliday is given an awful choice at the age of 22: die within months in Atlanta or leave everyone and everything he loves in the hope that the dry air and sunshine of the West will restore him to health. Young, scared, lonely, and sick, he arrives on the rawest edge of the Texas frontier just as an economic crash wrecks the dreams of a nation. Soon, with few alternatives open to him, Doc Holliday is gambling professionally; he is also living with Mária Katarina Harony, a high-strung Hungarian whore with dazzling turquoise eyes, who can quote Latin classics right back at him. Kate makes it her business to find Doc the high-stakes poker games that will support them both in high style. It is Kate who insists that the couple travel to Dodge City, because “That’s where the money is.”

And that is where the unlikely friendship of Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp really begins - before Wyatt Earp is the prototype of the square-jawed, fearless lawman; before Doc Holliday is the quintessential frontier gambler; before the gunfight at the O.K. Corral links their names forever in American frontier mythology - when neither man wanted fame or deserved notoriety.

Authentic, moving, and witty, Mary Doria Russell’s fifth novel redefines these two towering figures of the American West and brings to life an extraordinary cast of historical characters, including Holliday’s unforgettable companion, Kate. First and last, however, Doc is John Henry Holliday’s story, written with compassion, humor, and respect by one of our greatest contemporary storytellers.

©2011 Mary Doria Russell (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Fact and mythmaking converge as Russell creates a Dodge City filled with nuggets of surprising history, a city so alive readers can smell the sawdust and hear the tinkling of saloon pianos....Filled with action and humor yet philosophically rich and deeply moving - a magnificent read." ( Kirkus)

What listeners say about Doc

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    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous historic fiction

Beautifully written
Extremely well researched
A joy to listen to
I Highly recommend this awesome book!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliantly written and read

Of the hundreds of books I have listened to this one stands out as one of the best. The writing is classic in its depth of character and prose and the narration is hands down one of the finest I have found. My sincere thanks to all involved.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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The ease and flow

It’s nice to get a different point of view of Doc, everything has always centered on the Earps. Not this one!

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  • SD
  • 12-30-11

One of My Top Listens to Date!

What made the experience of listening to Doc the most enjoyable?

Doc was recommended highly and since I'm not much into Westerns, I hesitated, yet so pleased I stepped into the world of Dodge City. I was quickly ensconced in the lives of Doc Holiday, Kate, the Earp Brothers and a cast of characters so vividly described by the author, it was like I stepped back in time.
Mary Doria Russell has an exceptional writing talent of depicting the characters and locations so that one feels as though you are visiting Western towns of the late 1800's with the likes of cowpokes, saloons and small town activities all the while demonstrating events which influenced John Henry Holiday's life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Doc?

There are too many memorable moments within this novel to note which makes this book so wonderful! You just need to experience for yourself!

What about Mark Bramhall’s performance did you like?

Mark Bramhall compliments the story by capturing a slow Georgia drawl while easily transitioning to an Irish brogue or female Hungarian dialect. His gasping for air as he read of the ongoing coughing spells plagued by Doc Holiday emphasized the pain and torment experienced every day in the life of this young man.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It is rare when a novel comes along where I wish life's surroundings would stop and allow me to just participate in another world and Doc is one of those books.

Any additional comments?

A true enjoyment!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful historic fiction, perfectly delivered

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a wonderful book, well told. With sensitivity and grace, Russell provides a great portrayal of beautifully flawed characters who are familiar to most of us only through quasi-mythical stories of the old-west. Undoubtedly, she will enhance the already vidid legend of Dr. John Henry Holliday.

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Fantastic Read

This book turned a local historical person (Doc is buried in Glenwood Springs, Colorado) into a real person for me. Gunslingers are usually made into a hero in the face of danger in being made into more than human. Doc was an intelligent dental surgeon who suffered from a devastating disease. His heroics were in overcoming his personal demons.
This is a great read and a very well written and read book. Enjoy!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

This is one for our American friends

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoyed listening to this book but it was so full of American history that it lost me a few times.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Quite sad

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The accent was a bit hard to take sometimes.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

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    5 out of 5 stars
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great book

Everything about this book is great! The story. I learned all about the time period and about all the famous ppl in the area.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Decent story, acceptable narration

Narration is somewhat better than merely acceptable.

Story includes lots of information not included in the more popular renditions of the doc holiday and Wyatt earp stories.

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a great read!!!!

superb narrator. terrific writing.
I can't recommend this highly enough!!! I shall read again as the book takes you there.
and as harsh as it was there is where I want to be!!!
thank you for the ride.

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