Hi, everyone!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review of HOLLIDAY by Matthew Di Paoli on this AME Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book synopsis, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Synopsis
Holliday follows the infamous 1880s gambler, dentist, and gunslinger, Doc Holliday. From the outset, Doc has been diagnosed with tuberculosis and is told to head to drier climates and imbibe to prolong his life. He has also heard of a spring located somewhere along the frontier that could cure him—what he believes to be the mythical Fountain of Youth.
The novel portrays Holliday as a rock star, a living legend, increasingly hounded by paparazzi, enamored by death, cards, booze, and women. Doc is a mixture of Clint Eastwood and Jim Morrison, and though he is able to help his friend, Wyatt Earp, exact revenge, his condition worsens, traveling from Arizona to Denver, and finally dying in a sanatorium in Colorado with his boots off. A slow and unfitting end for such a bombastic outlaw.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184163597-holliday?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=2ybY3HPYGE&rank=5
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
Holliday by Matthew Di Paoli is a dark and gritty realistic look at an often-mythologized gambler, gunslinger, and outlaw from the Old West. This book follows his life as he travels from town to town in the West looking for a mythical body of water to cure his tuberculosis, help his friend exact revenge in Tombstone, and ultimately die in Colorado.
Born in Georgia, John Henry Holliday became a dentist, but was soon diagnosed with tuberculosis which claimed his mother when he was younger. The doctor told him to head to the southwest for the drier climate which should help his breathing. He soon developed a fatalism which led him to drink continually, gamble for a living and cohabitate off and on with a barroom prostitute.
The papers build up his reputation as the number of men he kills increases. His Southern charm and education are opposite to his ruthlessness and hair-triggered temper when he is drunk, which is most of the time. When his friend, Wyatt Earp needs his help to avenge his brothers, he uses his skills to assist. The tuberculosis cannot be stopped though and he ends up spending his few remaining years in Colorado.
This is an engaging and complex look behind the myth of Doc Holliday that pulled me into the story even as parts were difficult to read. Mr. Di Paoli’s writing is atmospheric and made me feel as if I was in the dirt, grit, stink, and heat of the Old West where everything was handled with a gun. Doc’s story is complicated by his own knowledge of his inevitable death, his wish to be loved and yet his inability to live a normal life he once believed in for himself. There are graphic scenes of gunfights, knife fights, action and blood which add to the realism. This is a clear-eyed look at a complicated man from a violent time who is romanticized in other books and on screen.
I highly recommend this enthralling western historical fiction.
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About the Author
Matthew Di Paoli has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times including 2020. He has won the Wilbur & Niso Smith Adventure Writing Prize, the Prism Review, two Elizabeth’s, and Momaya Review Short Story Contests. Matthew earned his MFA in Fiction at Columbia University. He has been published in Boulevard, Fjords, Post Road, and Cleaver, among others. He is also the author of Killstanbul with El Balazo Press.
Social Media Links
Website: https://www.matthewdipaoli.com/about
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDiPaoli
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruggedemu/
