LITERARY LIFE: A Second Memoir
Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster
Memoir
ISBN: 9781439159934
Reading a good book is one of life’s pleasures. But reading a good book about books makes that pleasure even more enjoyable. LITERARY LIFE by Larry McMurtry is a book about literature --- both reading it and writing it. It is the second of a planned three-part memoir by the 73-year-old Texan, who won the Pulitzer Prize for LONESOME DOVE and an Oscar for his screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. McMurtry’s literary resume includes 29 novels, three memoirs and more than 30 screenplays; in the early 1990s he served as president of PEN, the literary and human rights organization; and Booked-Up, his used bookstore in Archer City, Texas, houses nearly 500,000 titles.
The first volume, BOOKS, covers McMurtry’s life as a used book merchant. LITERARY LIFE focuses on his career as perhaps one of the most well-known authors from Texas. The forthcoming third installment will be about life in Hollywood and his experiences in filmdom.
From HORSEMAN, PASS BY, McMurtry’s first novel written at age 25 --- which was later made into the movie Hud --- to THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT and LONESOME DOVE, McMurtry’s impact in the world of literature and cinema cannot be overlooked: “My novels attract good filmmakers,” McMurty observes, because readers connect with his characters. “My characters move them, which is also why those same characters move them when they meet them on the screen.”
McMurtry’s observations are not lengthy ruminations on writing and life; instead, they are brief, pithy comments on the books he has written, the people he has met, and the experiences of nearly 50 years as a writer, including a period of time when a mysterious ailment stalled his writing. Sadly, McMurtry offers little information on that period in his life, but hopefully, the third volume will tell readers more. For a man who still loves his typewriter, LITERARY LIFE almost seems to be written in the style of Twitter, where brevity is the preferred element of communication.
Adding to the fun of the book is McMurtry’s shameless name-dropping: he has a long list of well-known writers and celebrities to mention. From eating chicken gizzards with Susan Sontag to Katherine Graham, Robert DeNiro and Mike Nichols, there are adventures with talented folks in the entertainment industry. None of them are lengthy, but all are engaging.
There is an unintended benefit that comes from reading a memoir such as LITERARY LIFE. This is a book you must read with a pencil and paper at your side. McMurtry mentions movies I have not yet seen but will soon be adding to my Netflix queue. He tells of his favorite authors and their books, and I find myself searching for their works at my library and on various websites. This is what inevitably happens when sharing a conversation about books and writing with a renowned author such as McMurtry. In the end, that is the joy of LITERARY LIFE: a simple conversation about books from a writer whose legacy is remarkable. If you love to read, you will love this book.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
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