Larry McMurtry (1936–2021) published more than 40 books of fiction and nonfiction during his lifetime. He won a 1986 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Lonesome Dove, and he shared the 2006 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay with Diana Ossana for their work on Brokeback Mountain. Here are five McMurtry titles not to miss.
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1966)
A searing, deeply moving novel of life in a small Texas town in the moment before everything changes—for better and for worse.
IN A NARROW GRAVE: ESSAYS ON TEXAS (1968)
An essential look at the culture—literary and otherwise—of Texas and a ruthless deconstruction of the mythologies of the West.
MOVING ON (1970)
This epic novel introduces the characters Patsy Carpenter and Emma Horton and examines, with surgical precision, both the possibilities and the limitations of their lives in 1960s Houston.
ALL MY FRIENDS ARE GOING TO BE STRANGERS (1972)
It’s tricky to write a novel about a novelist, but McMurtry pulls it off here with a kind of brilliant brio, reveling in the restlessness of his protagonist, Danny Deck.
LONESOME DOVE (1985)
Perhaps the best known of McMurtry’s novels, this book marks a backtracking for the author, who moves away from his explorations of contemporary Texas and into its more mythic past.
