Synopses & Reviews
"A blisteringly funny, wrenching account of wrestling way too close to—and later loose from—booze, sex and drugs and his adorable, infuriating mother. Bravo!" —Mary Karr, New York Times bestselling author of The Liars Club "Whoever said you cant get sober for someone else never met my mother, Mama Jean. When I came to in a Manhattan emergency room after an overdose to the news that she was on her way from Texas, I panicked. She was the last person I wanted to see on that dark September morning, but the person I needed the most."So begins this astonishing memoir—by turns both darkly comic and deeply poignant—about this native Texans long struggle with alcohol, his complicated relationship with Mama Jean, and his sexuality. From the age of five all Brickhouse wanted was to be at a party with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other and all Mama Jean wanted was to keep him at that age, her Jamie doll forever. A Texan Elizabeth Taylor with the split personality of Auntie Mame and Mama Rose, always camera-ready and flamboyantly outspoken, Mama Jean haunted him his whole life, no matter how far away he went or how deep in booze he swam.Brickhouses journey takes him from Texas to a high-profile career in book publishing amid New Yorks glamorous drinking life to his near-fatal descent into alcoholism. After Mama Jean ushers him into rehab and he ultimately begins to dig out of the hole hed found himself in, he almost misses his chance to prove that he loves her as much as she loves him. Bitingly funny, raw, and insightful, Dangerous When Wet is the unforgettable story of a unique relationship between a son and his mother.
Review
"Jamie Brickhouse has written a blisteringly funny, wrenching account of wrestling way too close to—and later loose from—booze, sex and drugs and his adorable, infuriating mother. Believe me: the gator wranglers from his Texas backwater hometown have it way easier. It's packed with many fine threads in a rich tapestry. Bravo—the first of many from Brickhouse."
—Mary Karr, New York Times bestselling author of The Liars' Club"As a blackout drinker and a ‘serial fornicator, Jamie Brickhouse was guided by two interrogative mantras: ‘Sure. Why not? and, courtesy of singer Peggy Lee, ‘Is that all there is? But
Dangerous When Wet is far more than a witty chronicle of gin-soaked debauchery. It is, more importantly, a poignant, hilarious, and sharply observed story of a gay man's exchange of self-destruction and self-loathing for wisdom and a mature understanding of love. Move over, Augusten Burroughs. You've got company."
—Wally Lamb, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Water"Everyone's got a mother, but Jamie Brickhouse was lucky enough to have a Mama Jean, a boisterous, loving and bouffant Texas tornado. In
Dangerous When Wet, Jamie's delicious and touching memoir, we find out precisely how Jamie became the sort of guy to purchase, at auction, ‘a six-and-a-half-foot long, chestnut brown, ranch mink scarf, which had once belonged to Joan Crawford. Under Mama Jean's tutelage, Jamie also came to appreciate the joys, and dangers, of a champagne cocktail. In exploring family uproar, the Holly Golightly allure of Manhattan, and the free fall of alcoholism, Jamie creates a literary cocktail all his own: witty, blisteringly honest and wickedly intoxicating."
—Paul Rudnick, playwright, author, and New Yorker humorist"Dangerous When Wet is anchored by a character destined to become iconic: Mama Jean. The outrageously bold and bawdy Mama Jean teaches more about life in a single one-liner than a shelf full of self-help books. Brickhouse's memoir is as revealing as it is riotous . . . a dark journey studded with gems of hilarity." —Josh Kilmer-Purcell, co-star of The Fabulous Beekman Boys, and author of I Am Not Myself These Days
"Jamie Brickhouse has seen the darkness, and emerged a happier, stronger person. His book is sensitive and thoughtful, tinged with hilarity and heartbreak, and as bubbly as a champagne flute of Asti Spumante. Drink it." —Henry Alford, Humorist, author of Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That?, and columnist for The New York Times"Dangerous When Wet is one wild-ass ride filled with lurid sex, drunken treks, late night phone calls to the rich and famous, and secret upon secret that no one has any business revealing. Jamie Brickhouse serves up a riotous, rollicking memoir that, ultimately, is as sweet as it is outrageous." —Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts
"Jamie Brickhouse's flame-red hair may have faded, but his no-holds-barred account of his fairy-tale life gone bad sets the pages of Dangerous When Wet on fire. Taking the reader on an alcohol, drug, and sex-fueled roller-coaster ride through the 1990s and early twenty-first-century New York City, Jamie spares us - and himself - nothing. Yet despite how much we might want to shake him into consciousness over the wreckage he leaves along the way, when he finally hits bottom after a suicide attempt, we wind up cheering him on as he struggles to find himself, sobriety, and redemption."
—Eric Marcus, author of Why Suicide?
Synopsis
"A blisteringly funny, wrenching account of wrestling way too close to-and later loose from-booze, sex and drugs and his adorable, infuriating mother. Bravo " -Mary Karr, New York Times bestselling author of The Liars' Club
"Whoever said you can't get sober for someone else never met my mother, Mama Jean. When I came to in a Manhattan emergency room after an overdose to the news that she was on her way from Texas, I panicked. She was the last person I wanted to see on that dark September morning, but the person I needed the most."
So begins this astonishing memoir-by turns both darkly comic and deeply poignant-about this native Texan's long struggle with alcohol, his complicated relationship with Mama Jean, and his sexuality. From the age of five all Brickhouse wanted was to be at a party with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other and all Mama Jean wanted was to keep him at that age, her Jamie doll forever. A Texan Elizabeth Taylor with the split personality of Auntie Mame and Mama Rose, always camera-ready and flamboyantly outspoken, Mama Jean haunted him his whole life, no matter how far away he went or how deep in booze he swam.
Brickhouse's journey takes him from Texas to a high-profile career in book publishing amid New York's glamorous drinking life to his near-fatal descent into alcoholism. After Mama Jean ushers him into rehab and he ultimately begins to dig out of the hole he'd found himself in, he almost misses his chance to prove that he loves her as much as she loves him. Bitingly funny, raw, and insightful, Dangerous When Wet is the unforgettable story of a unique relationship between a son and his mother.
About the Author
JAMIE BRICKHOUSE has been published in The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Lambda Literary Review, The Fix, Addiction/Recovery eBulletin, and the Latin American travel magazine Travesía. He is also a guest blogger for the Huffington Post. Brickhouse spent over two decades in the publishing industry, most recently at two major houses as head of their publicity and lecture divisions. He has also performed stand-up comedy and recorded voice-overs for the legendary cartoon TV show, Beavis and Butthead. A native of Beaumont, Texas, Brickhouse lives in Manhattan with his partner, Michael.