I really wasn't sure what to expect when I chose to read this very long biography about Larry McMurtry. Its length is intimidating, but it's an engrossing and fascinating biography. I've never read any books by Tracy Daugherty, but I definitely plan to read more. This is a beautifully written book about a fascinating man. The author delves deeply into his background and really paints the picture of McMurtry's life. I think McMurtry fans and biography lovers alike will greatly appreciate this book. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Larry McMurtry died in 2021. He will never be able to pick up a copy of this book that is about his life surrounded by his family and friends. However, I believe he would be enthusiastically proud to read every line that was written about how he made a difference in this world.

Many of us are familiar with his novels depicting the Old West. Some favorites are: The Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo and Dead Man’s Walk. He also wrote the book which was later adapted for the movie, Terms of Endearment. He co-wrote with Diana Ossana the screenplay: Brokeback Mountain.

Tracy Daugherty, also from Texas, gives the reader a full view of his life which starts before McMurtry was born. I love some of the stories she tells about his Scotch-Irish ancestors which dates back to 1782. She gives a glimpse of how his family survived through the American Revolution, Civil War, Great Depression and Texas dust storms in the 30s. McMurtry was born in 1936.

She goes into a deep dive with just about every part of his childhood, marriage and career. He loved women – even when he was married -- and wrote adoring letters to them. He sent continuous letters later in his life to a lady friend that lived close by. He was also a book collector and seller and had a store in DC and another one in Texas. He won an Oscar and numerous awards as well as being invited to the White House for a special metal for his achievements.

There were pieces of this book that made me pause. In 1991, he had a bypass surgery and his body survived, but he said his “self” lost its life. There was a time later when someone said, “Everybody was talking about him and everybody has stories about him…nobody’s meeting or seeing him.” A great man like this: he is now missed and the book is a well-written tribute.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of September 12, 2023.

As another reviewer wrote here [on Goodreads], there’s no shame on the writer of this biography that McMurtry cannot sustain the reader’s interest for hundreds of pages. The writing in this biography is excellent and it’s perfectly clear what’s going on at every moment. Daugherty occasionally expresses an opinion about a person or a book, but he moves on quickly. Mostly, Daugherty just tells you what happened.

McMurtry is a guy who never seemed quite happy where he was. When he was in Texas, he wanted to be near the literary tastemakers of New York, or running his used-book store in Washington, DC. When he was in New York or DC, he felt like he should be back in Texas. In both places, he seemed to miss the sunshine and lucrative script doctoring opportunities of Hollywood. When older, he seemed to like Arizona a little, but he still could stay put for long. He never went anywhere, apparently, that he couldn’t find fault with. He seemed to hate most of his books as soon as he was finished with them. He had little patience with fans and readers who wanted to discuss his previous works.

I’ve only read two of McMurtry’s books (Lonesome Dove and one sequel) and seen none of the film adaptations he was involved with. This biography may be more compelling to hard-core McMurtry fans. However, after reading this book, I returned to a book of his essays (In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas) and found them more interesting and less like the grumpy mutterings of a fussy man, which was my initial first impression.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this biography on one of the last great writers, who wrote about the old and new West, living for dreams, losing one's dream, love, and loss.

I first came across Larry McMurtry when I worked at my first bookstore, a chain owned by Kmart at the time, that allowed employees to take home strip covered books. I knew Terms of Endearment, might have heard of Last Picture Show, but knew Lonesome Dove, so grabbed a bunch for myself and my Grandfather. Not being westerns my Grandfather had really no interest, but I was enthralled by the writing, though this was about subjects I didn't really care about. Normal people not solving mysteries or going to other planets. I'm not going to say Larry McMurtry opened my mind to books outside my mindset, like a classic novel once did for him. However he did make me track down his movies at my Video Store, and those books I didn't get as strips I did track down and read, and continued to read for almost 20 years. So maybe he was a bigger influence than I thought. Tracy Daugherty, noted literary biographer, writes about the man that was the writer in Larry McMurtry: A Life, looking back at the childhood that made him what he was, his education, and a look at the many novels, screenplays and essays McMurtry was responsible for.

Before Larry McMurtry was a writer, a screenwriter, and even more important a fellow bookseller, bookshop owner and collector, McMurtry was a small town lad, with not a lot of hope for the future. Born in 1936 in Archer City, McMurtry grew up in on a family ranch outside the city, a ranch that was almost always in debt. McMurtry was no horseman, and no farmer, as he grew up he hated animals outside of dogs and cats, and even the most loyal family members knew that life on the ranch was not much of a possibility. McMurtry's parents fought constantly and fought with his grandmother, and before long the family was living outside Archer City with a growing brood of kids. Living in this kind of town gave him lots to draw on for his later books set mainly in Texas, the fact that cowboys while thinking they lived the romantic life, were destroying their bodies, or living in debt. That small town life was full of secrets, ones that he would hear at the local Mobil station, stories that would make appearances in other stories. Books gave him something to live for. A box of of adventure tales made him realize there was life outside the world, reading Don Quixote showed him that words could be powerful. Soon he went to Rice University, his Paris, and later Stanford University where he met other writers and artists and knew he had plans. And he began to write.

A very interesting biography that looks at McMurtry's whole life, but does a really wonderful job of describing the period that made him, growing up in a small town in Texas. Maybe it is the affinity that Daugherty has also being from Texas, but I really enjoyed this section and how you could see where McMurtry drew on events and people for his works, and how a certain view of the world was shaped. The book is quite good at looking at McMurtry's life and works, with nice summaries of his works, his relationships and even his life in retail trading and selling books. Daugherty has a very nice style, has done a tremendous amount of research, and respects his subject something that shows in the writing.

I have read a few of Tracy Daugherty's book and have liked them all, especially his look at the writer Donald Barthleme. This is one of his best, a really good look at a man in full, his life which was a little busy, and his works. For fans of Larry McMurtry of course, but also for those who enjoy well written biographies, or those with an interest in literary subjects.

How many times did I read Lonesome Dove? Watch the miniseries? And what drew me to the story?

I grew up in the 1950s when cowboys ruled the airwaves. I wanted to sing like Gene Autry and ride Roy Roger’s Trigger. I squinted my eyes, as if looking into the sun, sporting a cowboy gunbelt at age four. I drew horses. (I was on a horse twice–one tossed me off and the other ran into it’s stable, leaving me clinging to a beam.) In our play, my friends and I never fought Indians, but we rescued the one who had to play the cowgirl.

America was obsessed with the Old West in those days. I knew it was a time past, yet it seemed more of a fantasy world than reality. Perfect for our make-believe play. And it was this image that McMurtry wanted to shatter in his books. Lonesome Dove is filled with violent, accidental deaths, hardship, broken dreams, and the mistreatment of women.

After Lonesome Dove, I collected a number of McMurtry’s books and read them. Frankly, I don’t remember which ones. They were all sacrificed in a move many years ago. I knew that he kept writing, resurrecting his characters and killing them off, and that television aired more miniseries about Gus and Call. We saw some of the movies based on the books, including Terms of Endearment and Brokeback Mountain, the screenplay written by McMurtry and his friend and writing partner Diana Ossana, based on a story by Anne Proulx. I vaguely knew he was a bookseller.

I wanted to read McMurtry’s biography to revisit this author and to learn more about him and his books. I discovered a complicated, fascinating man. He was an extremely well read book lover since childhood, inspired by classics like Don Quixote, but also enjoying pulp fiction and rare erotica. In his early career he taught, hating the work but forging close relationships with his students. He was a man who loved many women with whom he shared lifelong friendships. He was a hard working writer and a constant traveler. He collected books, sold books, promoted books, bemoaned the end of books. He loved his hometown in Texas, knowing all its faults–which he revealed in his novels, turning hometown people against him. And, he loved Dr. Pepper.

The biography delves into the details of his publishing and movie history, the inspiration for his characters, and the critical response to his work. He was involved with so many women, including Cybill Shepherd and Diane Keaton, and shared a close friendship with Susan Sontag. His early friends included ‘Merry Prankster’ Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and after Kesey’s death, the octogenarian McMurtry married Kesey’s widow.

I have always been interested in writers and the creative process. McMurtry’s career spanned the extremes, from ‘midling’ novels to the Pulitzer, and included iconic movies. He was compelled to write, and by hard work created some of our most iconic characters in fiction.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.

I remember watching Lonesome Dove years ago so was eager to read this work. Lots of interesting information given. Was an insightful read. Thanks for the opportunity!

DNF. I was very excited about this title. Larry McMurtry is such an icon of Americana, and I respect Tracy Daugherty so much, but this biography felt like a drawn-out Wikipedia page. I wished to read something more personable and meaningful—a tribute. I did not feel as if Daugherty connected with McMurtry in any way.

There are still a few days left, and I will try to revisit a couple of chapters and give it another spin. Final thoughts: it definitely is a biography.

McMurtry is mainly known for his portrayal of the American West in his novels. I particularly admired him for his love of books/book sellers and the promotion of them, especially his own gigantic bookstore. Many thanks to the author.

So many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this. Larry McMurtry is my favorite author so I jumped at the chance to read this. What a wonderful read about my most favorite writer. I loved this. It will make you appreciate Mr. McMurtry even more. So many thanks to the author for this new work. I hope that more people "discover" McMurtry after seeing this. His gifts were many and this author helped illustrate this. Highly recommended!

A nice biography of one of my favorite writers, evoking the time and place -- the context -- to everything McMurtry did. I can actually viscerally remember reading Lonesome Dove as a young adult and just living in the story. I appreciate Daugherty's efforts to document a full life.