WHEN THE LIGHT GOES
Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster
Fiction
ISBN-10: 1416534261
ISBN-13: 9781416534266

One of the pleasures of reading fiction comes from meeting characters on the pages of a novel you truly would want to encounter in real life. My personal introduction to Duane Moore, the protagonist in Larry McMurtry's WHEN THE LIGHT GOES, comes late in his life. But Duane seems like an endearing fellow nonetheless, and he and I might have a few things in common to discuss over a beer.

Duane first appeared as a rowdy young "good-old" Texan in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1966), though he wasn't a major character. Subsequently he became the focus of McMurtry's writing in TEXASVILLE (1987) and DUANE'S DEPRESSED (1999). While Duane has been around for many years, I must confess that WHEN THE LIGHT GOES represents our first formal introduction. Therefore, I may be at somewhat of a disadvantage in discussing his life experience.

After a two-week trip to Egypt, Duane returns to his Texas hometown of Thalia and to his oil-drilling business now being run by his son, Dickie. Thalia is Duane's lifelong residence, and the title of the novel is in part a reflection on the demise of the west-Texas community. There is little left in Thalia for Duane other than his office, the family home he generally avoids, and the few surviving employees of his company. Two years earlier, Duane's wife, Karla, died in an automobile accident, and Duane now confronts the lonely life of a man in his late 60s with very little to inspire him.

Thus, it's expected that WHEN THE LIGHT GOES would be about loss, death and growing old viewed from many different perspectives. But what may be surprising is that this is primarily a tale about the reawakening of Duane's sex life, told by McMurtry in glorious and full detail. The light may be going out in Thalia, but it's burning brightly in Duane's libido.

Indeed, the opening line of the novel is a reference to the breasts of Annie Cameron, a young oil engineer who has been hired by Duane's company. The relationship between Duane and Annie is the cornerstone of the book, and it turns out to be a relationship that, in many respects, is the opposite of what the reader expects from the initial meeting in the Thalia office. In fact, the role reversal for Duane and Annie may be one of the more interesting aspects of WHEN THE LIGHT GOES. Equally intriguing is Duane's relationship with his psychiatrist, Honor Carmichael, whose method of treatment for Duane can only be described as somewhat non-traditional.

Larry McMurtry is an author of great renown. LONESOME DOVE, his 1985 western epic, won him a Pulitzer Prize, and in 2006 he received an Academy Award for the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. McMurtry continues to turn out wonderful novels that touch upon the foibles and vagaries of the human condition. Duane Moore may not be Rabbit Angstrom, but in McMurtry's hands, he is a character who has much to say about life. I hope that WHEN THE LIGHT GOES isn't Duane's final opportunity for observations on the human condition, because I would like to hear a little more about his life outside of the bedroom.

   --- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

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