Literary Life: A Second Memoir

by Larry McMurtry

Book Overview

"I had expected to be thrilled when I received my first copy of my first book, but when I opened the package and held the first copy in my hand, I found that I just felt sort of flat," writes Larry McMurtry inLiterary Life."I learned then and have relearned many times since, that the best part of a writer's life is actuallydoingit, making up characters, filling the blank page, creating scenes that readers in distant places might connect to. The thrill...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1439159939
• ISBN13: 9781439159934
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.0" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Larry McMurtry's Long Drive Sans Cattle

For over 40 years fellow Texan Larry McMurtry has been driving words along the way his dad and uncles pushed cows. He has created many wonderful novels, a good number of which have been turned into great movies including, Last Picture Show, Hud, Terms of Endearment and Lonesome Dove. Lately he has turned his attention to nonfiction, primarily memoirs about the book-collecting business. His latest, "Literary Life," is a moving but sad reminder that book collectors and book readers seem destined to follow the cowboy into history and legend.

"It's probably the Reaper,rather than the writer who decides what the final book will be." ..Larry M

After Mc Murtry has given us his "First Memoir,Books" ;now he has given us "A Second Memoir,A Literary Life". I found this second book,in what he tells us is going to be a trilogy,even better and more interesting than the first. In this book ,he takes us all through his experiences and loves about reading and writing. He tells us about his desire to be a man of letters,and how it influenced his life.He had a desire to write from his youth and had even written novels before finishing college.Fame as a writer,can be much harder to have happen than it is to wish for.This was always known by McMurtry,but that fact never limited him in his desire to write;and when he won the Pulitzer Prize for "Lonesome Dove",it came as a total surprise. In this all too short book,he talks about almost every book he has written,why it was written,what it meant to him and surprisingly what he thought of it. If there is anything consistent about his books ,it is is that they are so different from one another.It's therefore ,not surprising that readers will differ greatly in what they think of them.This can be seen from the reviews that customers have submitted.Some will rate them high,some low and others in between.I believe what we are seeing here is that the readers are really expressing how much they like the book as opposed to how well it is conceived and written.I know that is how I feel.The real interesting thing about this book is that the books I thought were the best;were not necessarily the ones that McMurtry thought were his best.I'd be surprised if others felt differently.For Instance,I always put "Cadalliac Jack" at the top of my preference,and "Loop Group" at the bottom ;just aout the opposite to what McMurtry did.Then again,I felt "The Berrybender Narratives" should have received much more aclaim than it got.I think from what McMurtry tells us, he would agree. McMurtry tells us a lot about how he was accepted in the "literary world" and how he felt about it.In many ways,I can understand how he looked at that.I,for one, do not pay much attention to best seller lists,or what are the most "hyped" books.I read what I like and find more on my own.Although I have read all of McMurtry's novels,I hate to admit,I hadn't even been aware of the "Lonesome Dove" mini-series when it first ran.What got me interested in McMurtry was reading "Cadallic Jack" and how much I liked it.I had the same experience from reading "Cannery Row" by Steinbeck;and then proceeded to search for and read all of his novels. Probably the biggest surprise I got from this book was McMurtry's involvement with PEN.I had not been aware of this at all.Here we get a real insight into the world of the "literary elite ".McMurtry knows he was never really accepted by them,and I don't think it really ever bothered him.He knew what he wanted to write,and that is all that really mattered to him.I think his comment on the people who made up PEN was very astute and it expressed my thoughts as well;ev

A simple conversation about books from a writer whose legacy is remarkable

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 l

Insightful and Entertaining

Larry McMurtry has written a heartfelt and honest memoir about the writing side of his life. I found that this book comparable to Stephen King's On Writing, but more personal. McMurtry writes about the influences on his writing and the interesting and noninteresting folks who have crossed his path through the years. While McMurtry has won a Pulitzer and has seen many of his novels turned into movies and TV mini-series, he is very self-effacing about his accomplishments. He doesn't get up on a pedestal and proclaim his greatness; if anything, he goes in the opposite direction and allows that he was fortunate with some of his breaks. He relates funny experiences, such as the time he was president of the PEN America. He also writes about his reading habits, something I believe he feels is as important as his writing.