Description:Set deep in the heart
of Texas, The Gay Place consists of three interlocking novels—The Flea
Circus, Room Enough to Caper, and Country Pleasures—each with a
different protagonist. Unifying the stories is Texas governor Arthur
Fenstemaker, a canny master politician modeled on Lyndon Johnson, for
whom the author served as a press aide. The governor uses any means
necessary to do what needs to be done, while the other characters
struggle with their conflicts of marriage and family, love and lust.
Originally
published in 1961, The Gay Place withstands the test of time—the themes
of power, money, and family are eternally resonant. At once a political
novel and a character study, Billy Lee Brammer’s classic stands among
the best novels about the Lone Star state.