Critical Praise

"Move over, Augusten Burroughs. You've got company."

—Wally Lamb

"It's hard to do justice to Brickhouse's dance-, song- and celebrity-filled prose, escapades, good-natured storytelling and unflagging hope. A funny, sad and fine first book."

—Booklist

"Not only would Mama Jean always be 'a bigger star to [Brickhouse] than Joan Crawford or Elizabeth Taylor,' but he would never be able to outrun his attachment to her because it 'was love in its purest form.' Unabashedly campy but always candid."

—Kirkus Reviews

"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."

—Wally Lamb, New York Times bestselling author of WE ARE WATER

"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 multiple fine threads in a rich tapestry. Bravo --- the first of many from Brickhouse."

—Mary Karr, New York Times bestselling author of THE LIARS’ CLUB

“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’M NOT MYSELF THESE DAYS

“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 columnist

“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, New York Times columnist and author of Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That?

“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 21st-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?: Questions and Answers About Suicide, Suicide Prevention, and Coping with the Suicide of Someone You Know