You probably know Larry McMurtry from his writing. From having penned the Lonesome Dove series and Terms of Endearment to his hand in writing the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain, he is both prolific and consummate professional. His latest release, Books: A Memoir sounds right in line with the arc of his writing… but doesn’t touch it for a moment.
Books: A Memoir is the story of how McMurtry has gathered 7 buildings worth of books “creating what he calls a book town in Archer City, Tex., modeled on the Welsh village of Hay-on-Wye.” The story, a paltry 272 pages in comparison to his heavier tomes, blows through 109 chapters, frequently asking questions without offering much by way of answers.
I haven’t gotten through the full text yet, but as someone fascinated by books and the people who hoard/love/loathe them, it’s a must read. In its way, the story also offers a side of McMurtry that his writing would never tell you, of journeys and a subtle humanism that his distinctly western writings, in many facets, belie.
If nothing else read it to see what kind of rope that a master storyteller, hand steadied in epic tales, can make from a hundred tiny strings.
