In this biography of Max Evans, learn why Charles Champlin, Entertainment Arts editor emeritus, "Los Angeles Times" said, "Max Evans is one of these guys you can take anywhere . . . and still be ashamed of him."

Ol' Max Evans is a rollicking tale of a powerful, if unconventional, literary figure. From his childhood in West Texas to his adolescence as a cowboy in northeastern New Mexico, from D-Day in World War II to the wild world of Hollywood, Max Evans has truly lived many lifetimes. Peppered through all this mayhem were stints as a gold smuggler, mining company executive, artist in Taos, professional calf roper, movie producer, and legendary partygoer. During these years of havoc and high jinx, Max has remained true to his many best friends, and to his writing. From The Rounders, which brought him fame, money, and his first movie deal, to Madam Millie, his biography of a celebrated New Mexico madam, Max's work has paralleled his own life. In Ol' Max we witness his friendships, the wild horses, the bar brawls, the discovery of his place in literature, the laughter, and a mystical world of shadows and mystery, which date back to the year he spent with his Cherokee grandmother as a boy. Life, says Max, is both ridiculous and fun. John Milton, in the South Dakota Quarterly, said that Max had spent a long life charging windmills with a broken lance, riding a three-legged horse.