Twilight Man

Love and Ruin in the Shadows of Hollywood and the Clark Empire

By: Liz Brown

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Liz Brown

Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Twilight Man is biography, romance, and nonfiction mystery, carrying with it the bite of fiction." (Los Angeles Review of Books)

"In Twilight Man, Liz Brown uncovers a noir fairytale, a new glimpse into the opulent Gilded Age empire of the Clark family." (Bill Dedman, co-author of The New York Times best seller Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune)

The unbelievable true story of Harrison Post - the enigmatic lover of one of the richest men in 1920s Hollywood - and the battle for a family fortune.

In the booming 1920s, William Andrews Clark Jr. was one of the richest, most respected men in Los Angeles. The son of the mining tycoon known as "The Copper King of Montana", Clark launched the Los Angeles Philharmonic and helped create the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a man with secrets, including a lover named Harrison Post. A former salesclerk, Post enjoyed a lavish existence among Hollywood elites, but the men's money - and their homosexuality - made them targets, for the district attorney, their employees and, in Post's case, his own family. When Clark died suddenly, Harrison Post inherited a substantial fortune - and a wealth of trouble. From Prohibition-era Hollywood to Nazi prison camps to Mexico City nightclubs, Twilight Man tells the story of an illicit love and the battle over a family estate that would destroy one man's life. 

Harrison Post was forgotten for decades, but after a chance encounter with his portrait, Liz Brown, Clark's great-grandniece, set out to learn his story. Twilight Man is more than just a biography. It is an exploration of how families shape their own legacies, and the lengths they will go in order to do so.

©2021 Liz Brown (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"Twilight Man is rich with joy and wonder amid the drama...an epic of loss, heartbreak, and survival." (Los Angeles Review of Books)

"Brown’s research is jaw-dropping in its meticulousness. For the better part of two decades, she went wherever the next secret took her, tracking down diaries, scrapbooks, letters, passenger lists, prison records and other archival material." (Brooks Barnes, The New York Times Book Review) 

“In Twilight Man, Liz Brown uncovers a noir fairytale, a new glimpse into the opulent Gilded Age empire of the Clark family.” (Bill Dedman, coauthor of The New York Times best seller Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune) 

Butte amateur historian

I am from Butte. I grew up intrigued by history and studying it. Especially the copper kings. Following the Clark lineage was always intriguing, but much of it was hard to trace from Butte. Empty mansions really opened the flood gates to new connections. The moment I saw news of this book I was so excited. Cataract surgeries later I have become a fan of audio books and I get excited for the Easter eggs like the author jumping in. Great research. Great writing. Great emotional replication.

Twilight Man: The Story of Love and Ruin

Liz Brown’s Twilight Man reveals the past of an extraordinary life while uncovering so much of America‘s history with highlights in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

We begin hearing Liz Brown’s voice in the introduction and the Legacy which concludes the novel while Bronson Pinchot gives a clear and passionate reading of a Harrison Posts’ life full of love, riches, passion, heartbreak, war, and death. Brown captures America’s historical past riddled with corruption and scandal during the Gilded Age, Prohibition, WWII (and even mentions the Kardashians).

I highly recommend the audible book! What a wonderful novel.

A good read during Pride Month

I was interested due to the Clark connection. I grew up in Butte, MT. I started it in late June. This is a good read during Pride Month. I feel for all the souls who have been raised to not lie but then are forced to lie because the world won't accept them for who they are. This story is also one that should help people to realize that they need to know how to earn a living even if they don't always have to.

Very interesting

This is a good listen. Love all the historical facts about so many different people in this young man’s life. This book was not what I expected, it’s better !!

Captivating

As a 3rd generation Angelino, I loved all of the geographic references to Los Angeles.

But the story is so much more than that. I was prepared to be bored but nothing of the sort took place. The story is beautifully told, beautifully read, psychologically accurate, well researched.

Sad tale told as melodrama

Both the writing and the narration of this book were overly melodramatic. I couldn’t finish it. I’m a gay man, so the topic didn’t put me off, it just wasn’t well done.

Amazing listen.

This is a remarkable story, in fact one of the best I’ve encountered on Audible, so much so that I’m purchasing a hard copy forthwith. The narration is superior. The research behind the story is exceptional and it is beautifully written kudos to Liz Brown and Branson Pinchot.

History and sad lives!

This book was so well written and researched! Beverly Hills was a lima bean farm!! I loved those tidbits of information! Harrison Post was not a person that I could admire but I did feel for him. William Post Jr. was a tragic man but over all I felt that he had kind heart. If you love history of early Hollywood and the Guilded Age combined, this will be a great read. Oh and the narrator was PERFECT!!! His voice was quiet and smooth with great inflection! A perfect narrator for this book. I'd imagine it was Harrison who was reading his own story!

Lovely and Well told Story of the skeletons in historical Closets.

This well researched and detailed account of a Twilight Man. Hidden from the history of one of America’s Wealthiest and most influential families. This story deserves to be told in the elegant and artistic beauty that the gentleman earned. How sad the loss of his brilliant collection of art and books. The story is as relevant today as the time it happened. The conservators that took control and drugged the wealthy man should have been charged with kidnapping and torture. I enjoyed this book so much.

Fascinating story, good narration

the narrator comes off as a little flat at first but finds his way quickly and really does a great job reading this book. Loved the story, loved the writing