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Book Review
MY
LIFE WITH BONNIE & CLYDE
by
Blanche Caldwell Barrow
Edited by John
Neal Phillips
with a foreword by Esther L. Weiser
University of Oklahoma Press
October 1, 2004
Reviewed by Robin Jett |
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Because
of the famous 1967 movie and the plethora of books trying to explain
them, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker have become enigmas to history.
Though foolish in their escapades and considered low-brow by the contemporary
"super star" criminals, their story has merited attention unequal
to their actual lives.
So if you want to read a real account of the outlaws, look no further
than this memoir, written by Clyde's sister-in-law. Blanche Barrow
and her husband Buck ran around with Bonnie and Clyde for almost a
year before being captured in Dexter Park, Iowa, and Blanche sure
has some stories to tell.
Clyde comes across as a man with an evil streak, and Bonnie is portrayed
as rather hysterical and often drunk. Buck - whom his sister Marie
Barrow Scoma called "mean" - was, according to Blanche, a gentle soul.
W.D. Jones, Clyde's trusted sidekick, was an unwitting dupe. Blanche
describes herself as a woman in love whose misfortune it was to love
a man on the wrong side of the law.
Blanche wrote this account while serving time in a Missouri prison.
Though she meant to have it published, the process of writing proved
cathartic, and she allowed the manuscript to languish. Her friend
Esther L. Weiser, who found the memoir upon Blanche's death, let another
fifteen years slip past before contacting Bonnie & Clyde authority
John Neal Phillips (Running
with Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults, University
of Oklahoma Press, 1996). Selecting Phillips proved a smart move,
because with his well researched insights into the crime duo and his
attention to historical accuracy, Blanche's memories finally made
it into print. With copious endnotes, which explain events and alert
the reader to contradictions in Blanche's story, and lots of heretofore
unpublished photographs, this book provides a thorough treatment of
the Barrows' life on the lamb.
© Robin Jett
January 26, 2005 |
Shop
Amazon.com
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| Bonnie
and Clyde: A Twenty-First-Century Update |
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| Running
With Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults |
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