Western Author Series: Larry McMurtry #1 of 6
CowboySpirit.TV - It’s rare that any of us experience the unique opportunity to have our Dream Job. For many reading this blog, your dream job might involve being a real cowboy or living on a working ranch far away from civilization. Larry McMurtry is one of those very lucky people who lives his dream job every day. Contrary to what you may believe - based on his success in the worlds of literature and Hollywood - McMurtry’s dream life has nothing to do with cowboys, fame, or western books.
It turns out that before writing, before becoming famous, before acquiring wealth, Larry McMurtry’s dream job was to become a collector and seller of rare antiquated books. Lucky for him, that’s exactly what he does now in his Texas hometown. The shadow of peripheral fame he has acquired in the meantime seems almost meaningless to him. He is as tight-lipped, short worded, and can be as curt as some of his most famous literary characters.
Larry McMurtry is most famous for his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Lonesome Dove, published in 1985. It is an 800+ page novel that received instant success and spent 24 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. It eventually became an acclaimed screenplay for one of the most successful television mini-series of all time. Of the almost three dozen novels he has written to date, many are not even set in the Old West. Yet McMurtry is considered to be one of the most famous writers of western books in our time. This Six Part Western Author Blog Series will examine the life and works of Larry McMurtry.
At first glance, we see a man born and raised on a working ranch in the small town of Archer City, Texas. But rather than continuing the legacy of cattle ranching lent by his forefathers, he left home at eighteen years old with a different passion altogether; Larry McMurtry is a self-described “bibliophile”. The prefix biblio means “book” and phile means “lover of.” He’s been a lover of books since age of 6, and has dedicated his life to collecting and distributing rare and antiquated books. Some details about McMurtry may disappoint you, and others might surprise you. But regardless of your reaction, we are sure that you will find him every bit as interesting as we do.
Stay tuned and check back next time for Part 2 of our Western Author Series on Larry McMurtry.
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