Doc

A Novel

By: Mary Doria Russell

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins

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)

Great history

This author told a more truthful and memorable version of Holiday and the Earps. I enjoyed every line. Thank you for this great story.

One of the top 5 narrators out there

I was surprised to see that Mary Doria Russell, author of the eerie and disturbing sci-fi book The Sparrow had written a work of historical fiction. If you’re fascinated as I am by Old West lore, this is an amazing read. And Mark Bramhall does it justice with a voice for every colorful character.

Great listen

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this listen. Mary Doria Russell is a wonderful writer and the narrator, Mark Bramhall, is fantastic!

Tombstone Prequel

Western lore has made Doc Holliday an important but secondary figure to Wyatt Earp in the narrow context of a single 30-second gun battle. Readers looking for a shoot-‘em-up retelling of the OK Corral need to look elsewhere. The action takes place almost exclusively in Dodge City before any of the principles ever move to Tombstone for that nearly mythological encounter.

In the hands of author Russell, Doc is a tragic but dashing hero of his own story - generous, humorous, ironic and proud. This wonderful character study explores the substance behind the dime store novel legends, fleshing out the cardboard heroes into wonderfully flawed human beings of depth and dimension. By taking the time to explain the back stories of all the major players, historical and psychological context make sense of the complicated personalities of Doc, Kate and the Earps, clarifying their interconnected relationships. This is historic fiction at its best – atmospherically descriptive, transporting the reader into time and place with her characters.

Mark Bramhall is one of my favorite readers, which is how I came upon this book. In the most ambitious project I have heard from him, he successfully tackles multiple accents, (Southern, Texan, Gypsy, German, Irish) and languages (French, German and Latin) with astonishing ease. Most eloquently, he gives Doc his beautifully melodic Georgia drawl, punctuated by spasms of consumptive coughing and weary breathlessness, conveying both the burden of his disease and the bravery of the fight against it. This is a performance that any author would wish for to bring life to a well written story.

WOW

Initially I thought that the narrator was a little slow and stilted but as the story moved into its own rhythm... my goodness! This was a tale that is beautifully and compassionately written and the narrator fits it perfectly. It really is a story for everyone. And I don't really like Westerns so it was a stretch for me to buy this. I am so glad I did.

Stunning and Sensational

Would you consider the audio edition of Doc to be better than the print version?

Did I get your attention? Good! This is a must listen.

Ms. Russell has written a master-work about characters we thought we knew. She picked a few important years in Dodge City when it seemed that all Western icons (famous and infamous) gathered and lived. Her descriptions of the Earp brothers, the sex workers (Doc's partner Kate is an absolute original!), the law (Bat Masterson), legislature and organized religion, and of course, Doc Holliday and his life, a sweeping and fascinating saga. From antebellum Georgia to post Civil War Dodge City and finally to Arizona and Tombstone,

I absolutely fell in love with, got angry with, felt sorry for, was amazed and disgusted by Doc Holliday. Now that is what I call a relationship!

What does Mark Bramhall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mark Bramhall is a national treasure. His reading of Doc is THE BEST I have listened to since joining Audible a couple of years ago. I think we are talking about nearly 200 books and this one is tops.

Who was the most memorable character of Doc and why?

The depth of character development is outstanding. Events, responses, and consequences or lack thereof abound along with wonderful "inner monologues" of Morgan and Wyatt Earp, Dc Holliday and Kate. Secondary and even lost souls have their say in Ms. Russell's book which is people'd with a truly unique cast of characters.

These characters come alive

Mary Doria Russell has the uncanny ability to create characters that are so real and so human that you feel like you know them. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but the kid in me could not resist a book about childhood heroes. I never expected the total treat that this book is -- not because of the story, but because of the way these characters rise above the expectation that they will revive childhood fascination and become people the reader could know.

I am a reader who wants characters I can love and that I can cheer for. Like many people I've seen lots of movies about the Earps and the gunfight at the OK Corral and all that stuff. Wisely, Russell let the things we all know be just a part of the background and she focused on the people, the humanity of the people, that those legends were. I loved every character in this book. I loved the whores - educated, passionate Kate and stoic, vulnerable Mattie and practical, loving Bessie. I loved the Earp brothers, Morgan and James and especially Wyatt. I loved Bat Masterson in all his dorkiness. I loved the old priest and thought the scene after the funeral where they get drunk and start telling stories was one of the funniest I have ever read.

But most of all I fell in love with Doc. Russell's John Henry Holliday is a brilliant, passionate, loving man -- a Southern gentleman to the nth-degree with a big heart and a failing body. Toward the end of the book, when, despite his advanced tuberculosis, Doc stands up for Wyatt, Morgan Earp says that he now knows why fighting the Confederate Army was so difficult if all the Southerners were as tough as Doc.

The final scene, when Doc plays The Emperor's Waltz while his friends marvel at his tenacity and then dance, had me in tears. This is one of my favorite books in a very long time.

Mark Bramhill's talent as a narrator lent itself well to this story. His mastery of the various accents an his ability to portray the various characters so skillfully made this a delightful listening experience.

Great author and narrator

I knew this would be a good book because of the author, but I was rapt with attention throughout because of Mark Bramhall. An amazing narrator! I will look for his name in the future.

Perfect!

I began my Audible subscription last year and listened to over 30 books. This was my favorite. Mary Doria Russell is a gifted writer who cares deeply about her characters and about history. I was equally impressed by Mark Bramhall who brings every character alive in his masterful narration. I hated to have this book come to an end. Can't wait for Russell's sequel which will move the action to Tombstone and the OK Corral.

engaging

Not necessarily a Western fan, I was completely immersed in this great story. As a foreign born, not familiar with this piece of history, it was extremely interesting to follow the narration with research of characters and events on the internet.
Mark Bramhall's rich voice was just perfect.