The tiny town of Archer City produced Larry McMurtry isn't that enough? I can only hope Ceil has purged herself from those Texas demons with this book and has now taken up skydiving or something other than writing. Gee, now I wished I hadn't found out what happened to her.

After a recent visit to Archer City (Thalia) Texas, I read Whatever Happened to Jacy Farrow, expecting a light-hearted rebuttal to Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show, a sort of "comin' back atcha" kind of book. This work, however, is at once, a serious reflection of a life, a social and cultural commemtary, and a source of great wisdom, insight, and humor. I was unprepared for the depth of emotion that it triggered, and for the way I interacted with it. I was not simply an observer, but a participant. I sat up late at night thinking of my own story, and the stories of my mother and grandmother. Ceil's memoir has encouraged and helped "this river remember its source". I read many reviews that claim "the book will be remembered long after the last page is turned". I usually scoff at that because it is often untrue. However, it is surely something that should be written about this one...it is being remembered and continues to be thought-provoking. I recommend it highly.

Through word of mouth, this book is slowly becoming a classic. I ran across a whole classful of university students reading this book in New York recently. I just re-read it recently, and still find it funny, moving, insigthtful, full of thoughtful philosophical musings on the vagaries of life. A profound book cast in three phases: the author as a young girl; the author in her thirties, and the author in her fifties. A unique life, a unique voice. Highly recommended.

I thought this collection had such a wonderful range of writing styles. Most collections are too much in the style of one person's taste, but this book is able to rise above that. McMurtry really knows how to cover all of the artistic styles out there. My favorite in here was the story by Mark Jude Poirier. He has a novel called Goats that just came out, which is definitely worth checking out. I also liked Diana Ossana's story in here.

I bought this book mainly because I'm curious about what's west of where I grew up: Wisconsin. What amazing writers are in this collection!!! All different points of view, but compelling and interesting. I especially liked Jon Billman and Diana Ossana's stories, two writers I'd not heard of. I hope to see more of their work. Who knows the west better than Mr. Lonesome Dove?! Buy it, read it, you won't be sorry.

"Still Wild" kicks ass. Those of us from the west think McMurty did an amazing job culling through countless stories to bring us the best in the west. From Poirier's Cul-de-sacs to Proulx's Brokeback Mountain, this collection of short fiction is a pleasure to read and well worth the cover price!

This book starts off good. You get to know all the charachters and feel like you are sitting down for meals with them. Then things start to spin out of control. Too much violence and grief and no clear reason or explanation for any of it. Not one of this author's best books.

A modern day son in conflict with a father who clings to the "old ways" of the West in this gripping story of life set a small Texas town and a nearby ranch during the last days of the Old West still held only in a father's memories,now sets the mood and tone of the book. A "true-to-life" event that has occurred more than once in a changing Texas for many of us who can attest to these changes having been reared in Texas with roots and ties to such folks. A great read!
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One - Three

This book was my introduction to Larry McMurtry, and I intend to read many more of his books based on this classic. The book was made into the movie "Hud," starring Paul Newman and Patricia Neal. The movie was brilliant, but different from the book in several notable ways. The stars of this book are teenager Lonnie and the evocative Texas setting. However, it is not simply another sensitive coming of age story. Instead it explores such varied topics as race relations and the death of the Old West. Look for the town and some of the same characters in McMurtry's "The Last Picture Show," another beautiful novel.

i picked this book up from a homeless bookseller in manhattan for a dollar, figuring it might be worth a try. and it was - i read the whole thing!

it's major pluses: it's written in a surprisingly modern style. i've read other travelogues of the time period, like melville's omoo and typee and others, and this one was FAR better. perhaps it's that the author is not pompous or trying too hard to be "literary." he tries a little bit, but mostly he just sticks to the facts and tells the story. and the story on its own is interesting enough - travelling all around eastern siberia with wandering natives on dogsleds and reindeer sleds, living in yurts and eating funky foods, starving at times, camping under snowdrifts at fifty below zero, and mostly just observing and interacting with native peoples who (i have a strange feelings) may not even exist any more. and all this set in the backdrop of such an interesting time period in our history - just after the U.S. Civil War.

other point of food for thought: the guy did his travels at AGE TWENTY!!!, and wrote and published the entire book by age 25! this strikes me as quite odd, because his whole style is...so mature...and intellectual. you'd think you're reading a book by a forty year old (at least). and to this that seven years before he travelled to siberia...he was just thirteen.

anyway, all in all a good and interesting book, good in a way for light historical reading, but nothing to shock your boots off...

Telegraph operator George Kennan signs on to build a telegraph line across Siberia in late 1800s. Very good American example of understated adventure writing, a genre probably perfected by the British.

I couldn't put this book down. On a par with Shackleton's story. Well written, fascinating account of a two year Siberian expedition in the mid 1800s.

Willie Nelson is a great singer and pretty good guitar player. Now for the book: Most of the book consists of his song lyrics. That's the best part. As to the jokes, a few of them made me chuckle. The "keep breathing" and "long liver" lines on page 22 are ancient. Willie admits to being 68. As to the slang language, those same old "s" words and "f" words and a few others might be OK for emphasis, and if you like repetition, there's a bit of that. The joke about AIDS on page 64 is modern, but. Stick to music, Willie.

Even my daughter the confirmed punk rocker howled with delight when she read it. It's just Willie having fun, telling war stories, Texas tales, and some of the dirtiest jokes you'll ever read. For long-time Willie fans, it's filled with lyrics to classic Willie songs, and, even better, to his obscure, mostly long-forgotten songs. One of the lyrics has a legend not in the book attached to it: Willie and Johnny Bush are on a tour bus, Willie says something like "I can write a hit song about anything in 15 minutes." Bush says "You're on!", they bet something best left unmentioned, and hands him a newspaper story he'd been reading about a woman found strangled. "I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye" is in the book ... maybe the bloodiest country song ever ...."... the flesh around your throat is pale, indented by my fingernails, now you can't scream and you can't cry, and I just can't let you say goodbye ..." When you see the lyrics to "Crazy" in print, you realize all over again what a wonderful wordsmith Mr. Hugh W. Nelson is. It's a book I have read and re-read, gave a dozen copies of it as gifts when it first appeared, some of them to musicians who'd played and toured with Willie. "Yup, he hasn't changed a bit!"

If you are a fan of Willie Nelson ... as most folks are ... you'll want this book.

It's spoken in town-to-town musician-bus language and it's simply what Willie intended for the book to be --- a no-holds-barred bit of chit-chat placed into print by utilizing the casual talking style of the author.

Like his many musical compositions that have been released on records, CDs and cassettes during the past 40 years or so, this is a work of art by an artist who has lived the life and is, therefore, qualified to talk about it.

Willie sent me the beginning pages of the manuscript as he was creating it on his bus while riding from city to city for various appearances. After reading what was submitted to me, I knew it would be a "winner". Reading the completed book was a genuine delight.

Some of the jokes told by Willie are not the type you would tell to your mother (who made have already heard them if she knows Willie), but are not offensive unless your head has been buried in the sand during the past couple of decades. Like a good movie, the hilarious attachments just add to the atmosphere.

While you are reading this book, you get the feeling you're sitting on Willie's smoky bus, listening to the genius as he laughs and relays numerous stories of the road, discusses some personal friends and speaks with a tongue in cheek manner about the somewhat complex music/entertainment scene. There are also some bits that are to be taken as serious statements from time to time.

Although he needs no introduction to his talents as a singer, actor, extraordinary guitar picker and songwriter, it's the "common" connection that makes this an authentic piece of literary art.

Willie caps it all off with many photos and lyrics for songs, most of them composed by a man who is looked upon by his many peers and countless fans as being unsurpassable in the business of entertainment.

You might put Willie's new CD, "THE GREAT DIVIDE", in the player unit while you lay back and enjoy this very good book written by a dear old friend.

This novel is comprised of two parts. The first 9/10 of the book is basically a very long character development on Aurora Greenway, a spoiled Houston widow with no shortage of "suitors" who adore her and put up with her egomania and fits of exceedingly bad behavior. The remaining 1/10 of the book focuses primarily on Aurora's daughter Emma, who lives through a bad marriage and a series of disappointing affairs only to die of cancer slowly, surrounded by her mother, children, husband and lover.

The first part of this book was pretty entertaining. Aurora was someone who I would want to strangle in real life, but her suitors and housekeeper Rosie kept things rolling. I especially liked Vernon, her Texas millionaire oilman. However, no characters really seemed to do anything--just sit around having dinner parties, going out to breakfast, and generally behaving like spoiled brats at all times between and during.

If you have seen the movie by the same name, you know that the movie focuses mainly on this last 1/10 of the book--Emma's dramatic demise. I don't intend to make light of anyone's suffering, and certainly not of cancer, but this part of the book was overdone to the extreme, much like the Bette Midler movie "Beaches." I hate books and movies that seem to be written solely with the intention of getting a cheap cry out of you, and that's they way this part of the book read to me. Emma's speech to her son Tommy about how he should be nice to her because 10 years from now he will look back and regret mistreating her on her deathbed made me cringe.

I had a hard time accepting this book's structure. So little happened in the majority of the novel and so much happened at the end. The akward structure and forced tearjerking made me less appreciative of all the good writing that came before the sapply finale. I have to admit that this book kept me entertained, but great literature it's not.

I simply fell in love with this book. It is my all time favorite book. It is full of rich characters including Aurora Greenway, an eccentric, overbearing and somewhat annoying woman that you just have to love. Aurora's scenes with her suitors are so humorous that you are compeled to laugh out loud. This is a must read for those who enjoy books written from the heart.

Terms of Endearment is a standout from a special author. The book has it all: unforgetable characters (I can't imagine where McMurtry comes up with these people), laugh out loud comedy and heart wrenching drama. The book is not just a story; it's a wonderful experience. Anyone avoiding this book as a result of seeing the Acadamy award winning movie is making a HUGE mistake. I actually read the book first, and found the crticially acclaimed movie to be a major let down. The movie covers about one tenth of what appears in the book, pratically ignoring some of the most memorable characters and story lines ever. Don't miss Terms of Endearment; I think it's great.

Larry McMurtry is one of the finest American authors because he knows a simple rule to writing. KISS...Keep it simple, stupid. This story works because he didn't try and fill it with zany plot twists or artifical characters. Their isn't a false passage in the book and their isn't an instant of when the characters don't act like simple human beings. Anyone who has read this should see the 1971 film version by Peter Bogdanovich. It works the same way the book does thanks in no small part to Bogdanovich and McMurtry's screenplay. (They co-wrote it together.)

"The Last Picture Show" is undoubtedly one of Larry McMurtry's finest novels. Set in a small town on the barren North Central plains of 1950's Texas, this beautifully told coming-of-age story captures the dual spirit of the blind hopefulness and hard reality that are such a part of growing up. Only McMurtry could deliver such a brilliant cast of characters who are as equally eccentric as they are ultimately tragic. This coming-of-age story flows wonderfully against the vast and desolate backdrop we know as the state of Texas in a time when the wide-open ranges and cowboys of legend had given-way to the barbed-wire and oil derricks that had come to take their place. This is vintage McMurtry. If you enjoyed "Lonesome Dove", you'll certainly enjoy "The Last Picture Show"

Undoubtably, one of the best books I've read this year. A story about two dispossed high school seniors in a small Texas town during the 1950's. Sonny and Duane, the main characters find entering the adult world is a major transistion. The town itself is also changing. The leading business man, Sam the Lion, who is friends with all the players in the story, dies in the story, affecting changes throughout.

This book is highly prurient and not for the timid. The story follows the boys as they visit brothels, watch their friends take part in bestiality, and Sonny is involved with a woman who is in a sad and loveless marriage.

Despite the above topics, the characters appear very real and I felt very much attached to them. There were many sad moments in the book where the character's ultimate fate was shown.

Larry McMurtry, simple put, is my favorite author. I'm always excited to revisist his characters whether they're returning from "Terms of Endearment," "The Last Picture Show," or "Lonesome Dove," but always saddened to find out that I've reached the end of these sequels and trilogies.

For the first time, "Duane's Depressed" didn't leave me with such sad feelings when I finished the last page. By some miracle, Duane Moore survives through this last volume of the trilogy (unlike many main character's of Mr. McMurtry's other novels) and leaves me feeling hopeful. Often funny, sometimes depressing, "Duane's Depressed" is an excellent example of how well the author can jump back into former character's minds and tell a wonderful story. Even if you haven't read the previous two novels in this series, never fear: Larry McMurtry has developed these characters so well by this time that you won't have felt liked you missed much.

I would recommend "Duane's Depressed" among one of my favorite's from my favorite author. Enjoy!

I coud not put this book down and finished it in 4 hours. What a wonderful book! McMurtry is a great writer, turning out an intelligent captivating story with funny, true to life characters that you believe in and care about. Haven't we all wanted to just take some time and walk around, hoping to figure it all out? I love a book that's well written AND makes me laugh out loud.

Even though "Duane's Depressed" is the final book in a three part trilogy, a reader shouldn't feel that he/she have to read the first two books before reading this fine novel. I read the first two novels a number of year's ago, so my memory of them is fuzzy at best, but I found that this book engaged me from page one. McMurtry has done a fine job of capturing the feelings of a person who is depressed. The book has enough twists, humor, and quirky characters to keep the reader entertained. I found I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to follow Duane's search for happiness. This book is a "must read!"

This is a middle book in the Lonesome Dove series; it's the one that comes before Lonesome Dove proper. Pleasantly, McMurtry doesn't subject any of his main characters to horrible deaths this time around. On the other hand, if you've read the other books you know what's coming, so the comforting effect of that is relative.

Native Americans get a slightly better portrayal here than in some of the other volumes. There are still psycho killers, including one really frightening bandit, but there are also brave and genuinely human characters. Overall it's a gritty version of the period just before the Civil War, with gripping scenes of torture and survival. As usual, there are strong female characters, but they generally come to bad ends, just as the men do.

I'd recommend this for readers of the series. I'm not sure how well it stands alone.

In January, I heard Larry McMurtry speak briefly about COMANCHE MOON and his prevailing emotion was relief -- relief that he had finally finished the beautiful monster he had created with LONESOME DOVE. In fact, the author openly expressed weariness with Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae. While I can understand the unfortunate dilemma of a writer becoming enslaved by his own characters, as an ardent fan of McMurtry's work, I could not help but notice that his exhaustion with Call and McCrae comes through in COMANCHE MOON, the novel I had expected to take us through their most daring exploits. Indeed, COMANCHE MOON is not about Woodrow and Gus. Instead it is McMurtry's sad, revealing fictional depiction of the impact Western expansion had on Comanche warrior culture. Most of the novel is devoted to non-white characters: Buffalo Hump, Blue Duck, Kicking Wolf, Three Birds, Famous Shoes and Ahumado. What's great about COMANCHE MOON is McMurtry's ability to show his readers, ostensibly 20th Century white readers, the other side of those people our culture has deemed as the "other," the red and black-skinned villains lurking on the fringes of white civilization. What COMANCHE MOON reminds us of is that American progress transfigured such strong characters by placing them on "our" fringe and that their actions against our historical movement is the stuff of legend and tragedy. Ironically, Buffalo Hump emerges as the tragic hero of this novel. McMurtry paints him so vividly that by story's end we are more upset over his death, than by his massacre of the citizens of Austin. One clever technique McMurtry uses to pull this off is slightly shifting the point of view during attack scenes: an Indian shoots three arrows into Clara's parents impaling them to the floor of their store (later we learn it was Buffalo Hump); and it's nameless faceless Texans who charge into a Comanche camp killing several women (later we learn it was Call, McCrae, and some soldiers). Other new characters, Harvard scholar-cum Texas Ranger Inish Scull and his "slutty" southern wife Inez work well until they reach levels of excessive absurdity. Particularly disappointing considering McMurtry's gift for developing powerful female characters is Inez, a surprisingly one-dimensional woman who, after uttering an insightful observation to Woodrow Call that cuts to the core of his character, resumes her carefree existence as a frontier dominatrix. Her lack of evolution becomes silly and tedious. Also, tedious was the action in COMANCHE MOON, especially the Rangers' sojourns, which by and large prove uneventful. Perhaps McMurtry is trying to show that the allure of ranger life was just that, more fictional heroism than anything else, which would propel Gus at least to seek fulfillment in a whiskey jug in Lonesome Dove. But what of Call? His blind obedience to the governor's mandates produce little good for the commonwealth he seeks to protect. It has been stated many times that Call's relentless pursuit of outlaws is unmatched, but if you're looking for an example of that quality in COMANCHE MOON, you're bound for a let down. Basically, he and his partner (and Pea Eye, Jake Spoon and Deets) don't do much good in COMANCHE MOON. What's missing is at least one successful mission that would justify the admiration and respect flung at Call and McCrae by virtually every character they encounter in LONESOME DOVE. To claim disappointment over COMANCHE MOON is disappointing, but that's only because the legend of Woodrow and Gus as rangers in their prime McMurtry created in LONESOME DOVE in turn created certain expectations within the reader. What I didn't count on was McMurtry growing tired of the two characters we his fans can't seem to get enough of. So if you're a fan of McMurtry read COMANCHE MOON, but if you're a fan of Gus and Call you already read the book about them -- it was LONESOME DOVE.

An outstanding read. The book, style, and story we hoped we'd get from Larry McMurtry after the Pulitzer Prize winner. Head and shoulders above Streets of Laredo, and better than Dead Man's Walk, Comanche Moon actually re-creates the characters Call and McCray and fills in the huge expanse of time between their near death at the hands of Buffalo Hump and the departure for the Rio Grand. Very satisfying reading, and a novel truly worthy of the classic characters McMurtry created previously. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE !

It took quite a while for me to get into this book. I just finished reading Texasville prior to starting Leaving Cheyenne. I was expecting more after reading Texasville. The book was written in the manner that an uneducated early Texas settler might speak, thus making it hard at times to understand. The story is told in three intervals with each character contributing his/her point of view. Too much emphasis was put on Gid (the main character) to leave so abruptly and shift to the thoughts of the other characters. And their parts were too short in comparison to Gid's. The characters have potential and the book worked off of a similar plot, I thought, to The Man Who Rode Midnight by Elmer Kelton. I suggest reading Elmer Kelton's book before this one.

Perhaps there is more to life, other than sex, especially as one grows older. What about enduring friendship? Three different characters, three different viewpoints. Thought-provoking narrative for the reader to ponder and consider as the country western song tells us: "time changes everything". Worthwhile read!
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/children's author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One - Three

I read this book some years ago and I was very impressed. I enjoyed just about all of Larry McMurtry's early (pre-Lonesome Dove) works. Indeed, I felt that his three greatest works were "The Last Picture Show", "Lonesome Dove", and "Leaving Cheyenne". After "Lonesome Dove", I think McMurtry lost a lot of his sense of reality as a writer. In "Leaving Cheyenne", McMurtry tells a common enough love triangle story but in a most unique method. The three characters tell their story from their perspective which, I'm sure, has been done before and probably with greater effect. However, what makes this book special and all the more enjoyable is that each perspective is given from a different point in time. Thus we have the serious young man's perspective, the pragmatic middle aged woman's perspective, and, finally, the fun-loving old geeser's perspective. Bear in mind that these three characters are all essentially the same age but looking at their lives together from a different point of maturity. It works, too. With the serious young man we sense the cold, calculated mistakes of a driven youth. With the pragmatic middle aged woman we see the acceptance that not everything works out the way you would want them to. With the fun-loving old geeser, we see that life is not judged by past mistakes; it's judged by how much fun you're having right now.

I noted some very negative reviews on this book. To each his own. However, it is a short read and I think you may get the same impression I did. It's worth a try.