Larry McMurtry Books

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Larry McMurtry is an American author that writes Westerns. Born in 1936 in Archer City, Texas, Larry’s father was a rancher. A former student of the University of North Texas, the author spent several years at his grandfather’s ranch.

The home had no books. However, Larry was hardly bored. His extended family was never far. At night, they would congregate and tell stories. Some years later, Robert Hilburn, a cousin that was going off to fight in WWII, left several dozen books at the house.

The author read them until they were in tatters. His education included stints at Stanford University and Rice University. He made several friends at Stanford, with some of the most prominent including Ken Kesey and Malcolm Cowley.

Besides teaching at Rice University, a position he took up in 1963, Larry also managed a series of bookstores. The author opened the first one in 1970 with the help of two partners. He eventually installed a branch in Archer City. Despite garnering a lot of attention and eventually becoming one of the country’s largest used bookstores, Larry McMurtry was initially tempted to close the Archer City Branch in the mid-2000s because he simply could not compete with the online book market.

However, the public responded to his plight so strongly that he eventually decided to keep the store open. Years later, the author was left with little choice but to downsize. His collection of books was quite significant at the time. After realizing that it would become a burden to his heirs, he auctioned it off.

Despite the prominence he gained as a bookstore owner, it is for his fiction that Larry McMurtry is known. The author began his writing journey when he joined Stanford’s Wallace Stegner writing program.

Stegner, who was already renowned for his western novels, took note of Larry’s talents, encouraging him to explore the Modern West. The author opened his bookstores because he wasn’t confident that he could make enough money as a writer.

However, that did not stop him from pursuing his love for the activity. Larry’s books stood out because he took a more realistic approach to the Old West. While his predecessors were known for approaching the setting with a romantic lens informed by myths and legends, Larry’s stories were quite brutal. He did not shy away from the harsh realities of life in the Old West. This earned him numerous admirers.

On a personal front, Larry McMurtry has been married twice. His first wife was Jo Scott. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce. Larry eventually married Norma Faye, Ken Kessey’s widow.

Larry McMurtry Awards

Larry won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1986. He was also nominated for a PEN/Faulkner Award.

Larry McMurtry Books into Movies

Several novels from the author’s bibliography have received movie adaptations including ‘Horseman, Pass By’, ‘Leaving Cheyenne’, ‘Terms of Endearment’, and ‘Texasville’, to mention but a few. ‘Lonesome Dove’, ‘Buffalo Girls’, ‘Streets of Laredo’, and ‘Dead Man’s Walk’ became TV miniseries.

Best Larry McMurtry Books

Larry has been commended for his ability to write female characters. Some of the author’s best novels include:

Lonesome Dove: Lonesome Dove is one of Larry McMurtry’s most popular novels. It is set in the final years of the Old West, following a number of retired Texas Rangers that must drive cattle from one state to another. The third novel in the series (chronologically) but the first one published, Lonesome Dove won Larry his Pulitzer Prize. The novel eventually became a miniseries featuring Tommy Lee Jones.

Larry was surprisingly unhappy with the success of Lonesome Dove. He wanted the novel to destroy the public’s romanticized perception of the Old West. However, he believes that the book, and its adaptations, did the opposite.

Terms of Endearment: Terms of Endearment tells the story of Aurora and her daughter Emma. Aurora is almost fifty. But she still has several suitors and she takes great pleasure in all the attention they throw at her. All that changes when Emma reveals that she is pregnant.

This is a problem for Aurora. She is about to become a grandmother and she is not convinced that her suitors will look at her the same way once they learn the news.

When Does The Next Larry McMurtry book come out?

Larry McMurtry doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Somebody's Darling and was released on October, 2nd 2018. It is the newest book in the Houston Series.

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