Big as All Hell and Half of Texas

By: Marlayna Glynn Brown

Narrated by: Abby Elvidge

Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

Following the author's wildly beloved award-winning Overlay and City of Angeles memoirs, Big as All Hell and Half of Texas continues the author's story. This final volume candidly explores the pertinent societal question: how does an ill-equipped adult child of alcoholics navigate life after a childhood fraught with abuse, scarcity, and neglect?

Continuing her engrossing journey from the moment City of Angeles ends, the author shares the vignettes of her life - replete with enlightening mistakes, edifying consequences, forgiveness and personal redemption. Big as All Hell and Half of Texas is an honest and inspirational account of the author's ultimately successful battles with depression, divorce, single parenting, and ill-fitting love affairs.

"This memoir is a journey in self-examination lived not as a victim but as a searcher always hoping that the universe will smile the next day. The author asks several questions of herself. Perhaps the most searing query is, 'Why am I not enough?' The answer suggested is that finding someone who sees any one of us as enough is a challenge that may consume a lifetime. And, perhaps, even more critically, is that moment when we find that we are more adequate than we believed, that those who reject are more deeply wounded or lost than we imagined.

©2012 Marlayna Glynn Brown (P)2015 Marlayna Glynn Brown

A remarkable person

Where does Big as All Hell and Half of Texas rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is definitely one of my favorites

What was one of the most memorable moments of Big as All Hell and Half of Texas?

The heartbreak of a mother unwilling to help her gravely ill daughter

Which character – as performed by Abby Elvidge – was your favorite?

Definitely the protagonist, Marlayna. I found her honesty and vulnerability to be deeply moving

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes-I was very touched by her story, and it helped to remind me to treat others well!

Any additional comments?

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review

1 person found this helpful

Makes me want more

I love real people's stories and journeys. This book is refreshingly honest and worth sticking with until the end. Highly recommend and am seeking out Brown's other works.

*I received this audiobook free in exchange for an unbiased review from audiobookblast dot com.

1 person found this helpful

awesome series!!!

Here I am in book 3 of Marlayna Glynn Brown's memoirs of her life...

In Book 1, Overlay - We read about the little girl Marlayna . How she grew up , what kind of life she had, how her parents raised or didn't raise her and the abuse she took as she grew up in Las Vegas back in the 1970s and her attempted suicide as a teen.

In Book 2, City of Angeles - We read about Marlayna moving to live with her Mother in Los Angeles. Then we read about Marlayna falling in love and making a family. She bought a house and raised 4 kids. Then we learn what happened to that marriage.

In Book 3, Big as all Hell and Half of Texas - We learn how Marlayna was able to pick herself and her kids up and move to another state and a whole new beginning. Marlayna's kids grow up and of people who come and go in Marlayna's life as friends and/or lovers. We also learn how Marlayna's depression blew up on her.

This entire series has been an eye opener for me. What a strong woman Marlayna had to be to overcome all her problems that happened in her life. The life events that happened to her which made her the strong woman she is today is amazing. I can truly understand the need to write this series and I can also see how Marlayna's history can help others.

This is one fantastic series! The author Marlayna Glynn Brown did a fantastic job writing this memoir in such a way that it is more like a novel. This is the best memoir I have ever read! The narrator, Abby Elvidge delivered a flawless series making this read easy on the ears and very memorable. I loved her multiple voices and accents too! I was really pleased to see the same narrator for the complete series. Great job ladies and thank you giving us all the chance to read about your life Maralayna! You are one strong woman!!! You made me laugh and cry with you thru your journey. I grew up with all these facts in your books and they are spot on. Every time another major event happened in history in your book, I said to myself, I remember that! All three books are 5 star reads!

1 person found this helpful

This is the third book, just as wonderful.

The third of the series in the wonderful memoir of Marlayna Glynn Brown, she opens up and, again, shows the vulnerability of her childhood circumstance. She describes her loves from the point of view of a very needy woman although from all appearances, she is a great success. Every time a man comes into her life and she lets them get close, she holds on with every ounce of her heart. She is hurt and angry when the relationship ends, to the point of clinical depression. The descriptions of descending into depression are real and cut deep for anyone that has felt it. Her descriptions of the love relationships and the desperate hold she keeps for each man is also painful to read if you have felt the same way. She leaves out the comings and goings of her children for the most part, as she explained in the epilogue, because they are their own people and should not be considered in her story. I actually felt describing their reactions to her actions and mistakes would have made this story more real. One cannot live in a vacuum and I personally would have liked to hear how the children reacted to the depression, to the divorce, to her successes.

I will have to say, again, this third part of her life was riveting and kept me listening from start to finish. I never left the books, looking for a break, to another book. I think this trilogy should be available and recommended at every AA meeting, AL anon group, ACoA members, and counselors that see those affected by alcoholics. I know these three books will interest anyone that likes stories that follow life from childhood to adulthood. There isn’t much that would turn anyone off to the realistic struggle and ultimate acceptance of success in this life.

1 person found this helpful