The sovereign state of Texas was recently in the news when
Governor Rick Perry announced that Texans might want to consider
invoking a little known provision of statehood and elect to secede
from the United States. Down in Archer City, Texas, author Larry
McMurtry hopefully had a good chuckle and was inspired to start
jotting down some notes for a new series of Lone Star State-themed
novels.
McMurtry is the chronicler of all things Texas. In LONESOME DOVE
and its literary progeny, he wrote of frontier Texas before it
joined the Union. The novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for
Fiction in 1986 and introduced readers to Texas Rangers Augustus
McRae and Woodrow Call. A series of sequels focused on life in the
American West before the Civil War.
RHINO RANCH is McMurtry’s final installment in his modern
Texas saga. This series began with the publication of THE LAST
PICTURE SHOW in 1966, and introduced readers to Thalia, Texas and
Duane Moore. In between these bookend novels, McMurtry visited the
oil patch town of Thalia and its citizens in TEXASVILLE,
DUANE’S DEPRESSED and WHEN THE LIGHT GOES.
Some may be reluctant to pick up a book after being advised that
it marks the conclusion of a series. But each of the novels in
McMurtry’s series can be read independently. You will learn
enough about the characters to enjoy RHINO RANCH. Perhaps as I was,
you will be inspired after reading one installment to go back to
where it all began. Last week, while visiting a used bookstore, I
picked up my own copy of THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. Soon I will start
the Moore saga at the beginning.
When readers last encountered Duane Moore, he had overcome the
death of his wife and remarried. Unfortunately for Duane, his
second marriage has not gone well. With his geologist wife
travelling around the world, Duane returns to Thalia and to Moo