On the Road with McMurtry

I'm a huge fan of Larry McMurtry's non-fiction, even more so than his fiction.  I'm thinking of his memoir Books, and his essays on Texas, In a Narrow Grave.  Here are some of my favorite quotes from his book, Roads:

"It may be that the Midwest produces a distinct kind of disappointment, which, in some, becomes murderous resentment.  I think this disappointment has to do with glamour - or rather, with the lack of it."

"What would America, much less ldaho, be without waitresses named Kitty?"

Roads reminded me somewhat of Steinbeck's Travels with Charley: In Search of America, except that admittedly, without a Charley (or other side kick), it wasn't quite as entertaining.  However, I wrote down some of the routes that McMurtry recommends (highway 2, highway 83), and I can't wait to drive them someday!

Don't Pass By McMurtry

 

Larry McMurtry is a prolific writer who spins stories of the American West, many of which take place in Texas.  Having read his Pulitzer prize-winning epic novel Lonesome Dove earlier this year, I was curious to read his earliest (and much slimmer) novel, Horseman, Pass By, written in 1961.  An unsentimental, gritty, atmospheric work, Horseman, Pass By is set against the backdrop of a cattle ranch in post World War II Texas.  Lonnie Brannon is the teenage grandson of Homer Brannon, an honest and hardworking old time cattle man who has owned the ranch for many years.  Homer's stepson Hud also lives at the ranch, and Lonnie is both repulsed by and intrigued by Hud's selfish, ruthless and "mean" ways.  McMurtry brings the tale to life with his description of the ranch landscape, the open sky, and the way a small town can make a person yearn to see the wider world. 

The Great Western Novel?

At over 800 pages, I was daunted by taking on Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning and legendary tale of the American West, Lonesome Dove.  Filled with heroes and outlaws and "cowboys and Indians," this was a fast moving tale, people with many memorable characters like Lorena, Jack Spoon, July Johnson, and Newt.  Led by Captain August McCrae and W.F. Call, both former Texas Rangers, a group of cowboys band together to organize a cattle drive from Texas to Montana in the late nineteenth century.  Gus McCrae is fun loving, talkative, and adventurous, in comparison to Call's more quiet and serious nature.  This book has it all - plots and sub-plots of love, revenge, loyalty, adventure, hardship, and camaraderie.   It is a consuming, readable, and memorable tale.