03 Jul 2013 00:47:31
It's a good thing this is a memoir, because if it was a novel we'd say it was unbelievable. This book has everything. It's a tale told by a southern trial lawyer whose brother was murdered when he was young man. David Berg's brother, Alan, disappeared one night after work leaving his pregnant wife and two kids alone. The police thought he was just another Houston husband who'd walked out on his family, and refused to investigate. For six months his family searched for him, paying rewards and hiring con men, until his remains were found in a ditch near Galveston, Texas.
The story is filled with the dusty small town criminal wheeling and dealings of a Grisham novel, and there's plenty of courtroom drama. But the book inhabits the worlds of Texas, Washington DC, Las Vegas and Hollywood. The connections are quite incredible:
• The murderer was Woody Harrelson's father.
• His brother (Woody Harrelson's uncle) scammed the grieving family and briefly got hired as a private investigator to find the missing son.
• When the police wouldn't open a missing persons file, then congressman George Bush Sr wrote to the FBI and asked them to investigate. They did.
• In his 20s, Alan Berg was a carpet salesman, a gambler and a debtor. In his 20s, David Berg successfully argued a case before the US supreme court.
For years Berg told no one about his brother, partly out of denial, but also because he was ashamed of the whole affair. But as he grew older and more and more successful he found he was haunted by it – or, to be more precise, he was haunted by the memories of a brother he had adored until his death. Like all successful memoirs, this one is filled with emotion, in this case an overwhelming sadness at the loss. But Berg is first and foremost a Texas trial lawyer, who knows how to keep an audience engrossed. So the book is fast paced and filled with snappy lines.
"Mom parted with a dollar like a scientist measuring out enriched uranium."
"Many courthouses in Texas are arresting, with their creamy limestone exteriors and gilded cupolas, but Angelton's is not one of them."
"After three failed marriages and God only knows how many abortions, my brother had finally got this part of his life right."
"Could Alan have lived? I doubt it. Did he hit Charles Harrelson with a shovel? I hope to God he did."
For all the darkness of a dysfunctional family history spiraling out of control, Berg keeps his sense of humor. There are funny moments in this tale. The book is a fast read. You'll sigh with relief when you finish it but after you're done, the death of Alan Berg will haunt you too.
