I write a weekly book review for the Daily News of Galveston County. (It is not the biggest daily newspaper in Texas, but it is the oldest.) I have been doing this for nearly a dozen years, and am reprinting some of the older reviews here. Books I feel are still worthwhile. Do you remember Thomas Boyd? Unless you have read Through the Wheat or study mid-twentieth century American literature, the answer is likely no. Yet Brian Bruce wrote a first-rate biography of Boyd.
Why? Who knows? My theory is it was a graduate thesis. It is a fascinating book, though.
Seawriter
Subject limits book’s appeal to masses
By Mark Lardas
The Daily News
Published October 22, 2006
“Thomas Boyd: Lost Author of the ‘Lost Generation,’” by Brian Bruce, University of Akron Press, Akron, OH, 2006, 167 pages, $42.95.
Thomas Boyd was one of the writers of the Lost Generation — men and women thrust suddenly into the adult world by the battles of World War I.
As a teenager, Boyd enlisted in the U.S. Marines Corps after America’s entry into that war. He fought with the 6th Marine Regiment at Belleau Wood, Soissons and Saint-Mihiel. Badly wounded in combat (he would later die from complications from his injury) he spent much of the rest of his military career in hospitals.
After the war, Boyd married his third cousin, Peggy Smith, a future novelist. Through her influence, he became a reporter and discovered he liked writing.
F. Scott Fitzgerald befriended Boyd, and used his influence to get Boyd’s first novel published.
The book was “Through the Wheat,” a semi-autographical account of Boyd’s Marine experiences. It became a bestseller. While unevenly written, it remains one of the best accounts of combat in World War I.
Despite his friendship with Fitzgerald, Boyd’s life more closely parallels Dashiel Hammett’s. Both came from working class backgrounds, had health problems from World War I, depended upon writing for their livelihood and dabbled in communism. (Boyd ran for governor of Vermont as a communist.)
After “Through the Wheat,” Boyd spent his short life (he died at 38) churning out novels and biographies. Only two cracked the best-seller lists. All are largely forgotten. Only “Through the Wheat” remains available.
Brian Bruce, a local author, has written a well-researched, thorough and highly readable account of Thomas Boyd’s life. It is one of the best-written biographies of 2006. Its only weakness is its subject.
People generally read authors’ biographies for three reasons: They like the writer’s books, the author had a fascinating life or the writer had an impact on the books of the time.
Boyd is a literary footnote. He wrote one near-great work. He lacks the enigma of a Patrick O’Brien or the adventure of an Ernest Hemmingway. He did not, like William Faulkner or Flannery
O’Connor, influence literature. His life, while filled with challenges, was pedestrian.
That limits the book’s appeal. Unless you have read Boyd’s books, are interested in Ohio history, 1920s authors or simply enjoy reading about authors, the book may fail to catch your attention.
Bruce’s biography will interest scholars and contributes to the study of American letters. It seems a shame that an engagingly written work will only capture a small audience.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, amateur historian, and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.



And the $43 price tag will further shrink the audience. But, Through the Wheat is affordable.
That is what public libraries are for – and interlibrary loan.
Seawriter
Still have to want to read it.