The Essential David Everett Reader by Everett, David (2012) Paperback

by David Everett

David Everett wrote the way he played the piano — for the sheer joy of entertaining. His stories are unfailingly funny. Everett's memoirs tell of growing up in east Texas during WWII, the military after Korea but before Viet Nam, gays at UT in the 50s, Winedale and Johnson City in the 60s, playing the piano behind the iron curtain in Europe, and much, much more. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 45, Everett continued to enjoy life for another 28 years, first working on campus and then retiring to Mexico. This book tells in droll detail the story of the coming of age of a gay Texan, the pleasures and traumas of the 60s, the heroic struggles of an unrepentant iconoclast, beset with a degenerative disease, who faced the world with intelligence, sensitivity, and humor. This book is a song with many verses and a single underlying art as a form of salvation, writing as a pure act of love.

Paperback

First published October 23, 2012

Reviews

[Cindy Huyser · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Everett was a marvelous raconteur, with a great sense of humor and an eye for detail.His stories about growing up gay in east Texas, and about his time in Winedale at the Hogg property were among my favorites in this collection, as were his letters -- he was clearly a correspondent who loved entertaining his audience. A few pieces written from Mexico "for the gringos" were not as good -- I didn't quite get the humor, and thought a few items to be of questionable taste / value -- but the good in this book far outweighs the bad. An entertaining, informative read.