Twilight Man

March 29, 2021
An unearthed family secret prompts an investigation into the closeted life of a 1920s Hollywood millionaire in this deeply researched yet sluggish debut biography from journalist Brown. After uncovering evidence that her grandmother’s uncle, L.A. Philharmonic founder William Andrews Clark Jr., had a longtime male lover named Harrison Post, Brown set out to “recuperate a lost gay history as a way to assert my own queer lineage.” She describes Clark’s background as the son of a Montana senator and copper tycoon and Post’s Jewish heritage and exotic good looks (“shades of Rudolph Valentino”). They met when Post waited on the older, wealthier man at a luxury boutique store in San Francisco. First taken in as “a ward,” Post later became Clark’s “secretary.” (“You could enter a higher class, it seemed, by catering to it,” Brown writes.) Post lived as a kept man surrounded by an “aura of wealth and intrigue,” and inherited a small fortune after Clark’s death, though he descended into alcoholism amid numerous personal and family troubles. Brown has clearly done her homework, but the romance largely happens off the page, resulting in more facts than feelings. This well-intentioned effort has flashes of inspiration but never takes off.

April 1, 2021
Queer lives in Gilded Age America. In 2003, while visiting San Francisco to celebrate her late grandmother's life, Brown discovered, among her grandmother's belongings, a photograph of a young, handsome man. She knew nothing about him at the time, but her discovery of Harrison Post sparked this absorbing debut book, a history of power, corruption, greed, and betrayal: her family's saga. Her grandmother's aunt had been the wife of millionaire tycoon and philanthropist William Andrews Clark Jr., who founded and supported the Los Angeles Philharmonic and established the monumental Clark Library at UCLA, where Clark housed his precious collection of Oscar Wilde letters. The son of a ruthless copper baron, half brother to the infamous recluse Huguette Clark, he was--like Brown--gay; Post was his lover. Aiming "to recuperate a lost gay history as a way to assert my own queer lineage," the author uncovered a complicated tale: "a tangled, bewildering conspiracy about a man who'd been swept into one of the greatest fortunes in America only to be cast to the margins, a man taken captive in bizarre and gothic circumstances by his own family," a man who survived imprisonment during World War II--and a man who proved to be a master of reinvention. Albert Weis Harrison met Clark Jr., a widower, when he was a salesman in Los Angeles. By then, Harrison had taken the surname Post, and soon he was traveling in Clark's entourage as his secretary, living in his mansion as his ward, and benefiting from Clark's considerable largesse. Drawing on archival material, Brown recounts the eventful trajectory of the men's lives, the charges that they managed to avoid through bribery or subterfuge, and the shady business dealings that maintained Clark's wealth. The author is forthright in portraying the Clark family's ruthlessness--especially wielded by William Clark Sr.--as well as Gilded Age society's relentless persecution of homosexuals. Thorough research informs an often sordid, entertaining history.

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April 9, 2021

Following a death in her family, journalist Brown found among her grandmother's possessions a signed photo of a man she didn't know. This discovery led her to uncover clues to some old family stories and scandals. With information from journals, newspapers, court records, and an infamous book (family legend says they tried to burn all the copies of the book), Brown's story moves from Montana mining towns to Hollywood to Nazi-occupied Europe, from mansions to prison camps; each detail unfolds into more family secrets and metaphorical skeletons. Brown carefully traces the life of philanthropist William Andrews Clark Jr., her great-granduncle; his romantic relationship with former salesclerk Harrison Post; and the efforts they took to prevent their Hollywood circle from discovering their relationship. This is a rags-to-riches story, weaving in well-known celebrities and familiar events, that will keep readers wondering what could happen from one page to the next. The author offers plenty of backstory, allowing for a deeper appreciation for the actions of the book's main figures, and their motivations. VERDICT This is a definite must-read for fans of early Hollywood, and those interested in LGBTQ history, with plenty of scandals and gossip to grab interest.--Amanda Ray, Iowa City P.L.

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