Bryan Burrough was previously a writer for the Wall Street Journal, and won three John Handcock Awards in financial journalism. As an author he wrote six bestselling books before The Big Rich, including Days of Rage and Public Enemies. Burroughs grew up around the families of the Big Rich and was amazed by them. He wrote The Big Rich in response to the lack of knowledge about the families who were once considered Texas nobility. The book focuses around the lives the Big Rich, Roy Cullen, Sid Richardson, Clint Murchison, and H.L. Hunt. The author summarized the four men as “a ‘good ol’ boy’, a scold, a genius, and a bigamist” (19). The Big Rich tells the stories of how these men rise to fame, infamy, and boundless riches, as well as the downfall.
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All of the stories can be divided into two categories, red and black. At the start of the book the big four mostly stayed in the black, making a profit, as they built up their fortunes. The book detailed the exploits and decision that built up their fortunes, as well as the social advantages that help push them to success. As their fortunes grew so did their temptations to give into sin. The temptation of pride, lust, envy, anger, greed, gluttony, sloth only grew as they became complacent with their fortunes. H.L. Hunt was a prideful man, much too prideful. He viewed himself as far above the rest of humanity, his fortune gave him the rational to believe it. The Big Rich quotes Lyda, the daughter of H.L. Hunt’s first wife speaking to her mother after she had found out about the second wife; “Daddy always said that his genes were so outstanding that he wanted to leave a lot of them to the world. I am certain that he does not imagine there is anything the matter with this.” …show more content…
Hunt was to pride Clint Murchison Jr. was to lust and gluttony. He gained fame for starting first Texan professional football team, the Dallas Cowboys. Clint Jr. never cared for the team much, he was much more interested in to cheerleaders. Often found sitting with a notebook and pencil writing down the cheerleaders he wanted to sleep with. “Almost every night and many afternoons, especially when on the road, there was a new girl in Clint Jr.’s bed…” (325). His wife knew about the thousands of women that he had slept with, but she buried her sorrow using Clint Jr.’s wallet. She had a revolving account with $100,00 ($5,754,866 in today’s dollars).
Throughout every family the temptations ran rampant. Although there were good sons and daughters who helped raise the family fortune, the bad eggs’ losses more than made up for any profits. The social pressure being relatives of the big four actually drove a few family members insane, running away and being
All of the stories can be divided into two categories, red and black. At the start of the book the big four mostly stayed in the black, making a profit, as they built up their fortunes. The book detailed the exploits and decision that built up their fortunes, as well as the social advantages that help push them to success. As their fortunes grew so did their temptations to give into sin. The temptation of pride, lust, envy, anger, greed, gluttony, sloth only grew as they became complacent with their fortunes. H.L. Hunt was a prideful man, much too prideful. He viewed himself as far above the rest of humanity, his fortune gave him the rational to believe it. The Big Rich quotes Lyda, the daughter of H.L. Hunt’s first wife speaking to her mother after she had found out about the second wife; “Daddy always said that his genes were so outstanding that he wanted to leave a lot of them to the world. I am certain that he does not imagine there is anything the matter with this.” …show more content…
Hunt was to pride Clint Murchison Jr. was to lust and gluttony. He gained fame for starting first Texan professional football team, the Dallas Cowboys. Clint Jr. never cared for the team much, he was much more interested in to cheerleaders. Often found sitting with a notebook and pencil writing down the cheerleaders he wanted to sleep with. “Almost every night and many afternoons, especially when on the road, there was a new girl in Clint Jr.’s bed…” (325). His wife knew about the thousands of women that he had slept with, but she buried her sorrow using Clint Jr.’s wallet. She had a revolving account with $100,00 ($5,754,866 in today’s dollars).
Throughout every family the temptations ran rampant. Although there were good sons and daughters who helped raise the family fortune, the bad eggs’ losses more than made up for any profits. The social pressure being relatives of the big four actually drove a few family members insane, running away and being