Larry McMurtry
Encyclopedia
Larry Jeff McMurtry is an American
novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter
whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas
. He is known for his 1975
novel Terms of Endearment, his 1985
Pulitzer Prize-winning
novel Lonesome Dove
, a historical saga that follows ex-Texas Rangers
as they drive their cattle from the Rio Grande to a new home in the frontier of Montana, and for co-writing the adapted screenplay for Brokeback Mountain
. Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries and both the film of Terms of Endearment
and Brokeback Mountain won Academy Awards. He also awarded Brian Allen Carr the inaugural Texas Observer Story Prize.
, the son of Hazel Ruth (née
McIver) and William Jefferson McMurtry, who was a rancher. He grew up on a ranch outside Archer City, Texas
, which is the model for the town of Thalia that appears in much of his fiction. He earned degrees from University of North Texas
(B.A. 1958) and Rice University
(M.A. 1960).
In 1964 he was awarded a Guggenheim
grant. In 1960, McMurtry was also a Wallace Stegner
Fellow at Stanford University
, where he studied the craft of fiction under novelist Wallace Stegner
and alongside a number of other writers, including Ken Kesey
, Peter S. Beagle
, Robert Stone, and Gordon Lish
. McMurtry and Kesey remained friends after McMurtry left California and returned to Texas, and Kesey's famous cross-country trip with his Merry Pranksters
in a day-glo painted schoolbus 'Further' included a stop at McMurtry's home in Houston, described in Tom Wolfe
's New-Journalistic book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
. At the time (1964), McMurtry was also a Lecturer in English at Rice University. His students were entertained with stories of Hollywood and the filming of Hud
for which he was consulting.
While at Stanford he became a rare-book scout, and during his years in Houston managed a book store there called the Bookman. In 1969 he moved to the Washington, D.C. area, and in 1970 with two partners started a bookshop in Georgetown which he named Booked Up. In 1988 he opened another Booked Up in Archer City, which is one of the largest single used bookstores in the United States, carrying somewhere between 400,000 and 450,000 titles. Citing economic pressures from Internet bookselling, McMurtry came close to shutting down the Archer City store in 2005, but chose to keep it open after an outpouring of public support.
McMurtry has been a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books
and is a past president of PEN
. He is perhaps best known for the film adaptations of his work, especially Hud
(from the novel Horseman, Pass By
), starring Paul Newman
and Patricia Neal
; the Peter Bogdanovich
–directed The Last Picture Show
; James L. Brooks
's Terms of Endearment
, which won five Academy Awards
, including Best Picture (1984); and Lonesome Dove
, which became a popular television mini-series starring Tommy Lee Jones
and Robert Duvall
.
In 1986, McMurtry received the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. The Helmerich Award
is presented annually by the Tulsa Library Trust
.
In 2006, he was co-winner (with Diana Ossana
) of both the Best Screenplay Golden Globe and the Academy Award
for Best Adapted Screenplay for Brokeback Mountain
. He accepted his Oscar wearing jeans
and cowboy boots along with his dinner jacket and used his speech to promote books by reminding his audience that "Brokeback Mountain" was a short story by E. Annie Proulx
before it was a movie. In his Golden Globe acceptance speech, he paid tribute to his Swiss-made Hermes 3000 typewriter.
, is a singer/songwriter and guitarist. His former wife Jo Scott McMurtry, an English professor, is also the author of five books. On May 5, 2011, the Dallas Morning News reported that McMurtry married Norma Faye Kesey, the widow of writer Ken Kesey
, on April 29 in a civil ceremony in Archer City.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He is known for his 1975
1975 in literature
The year 1975 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* August 12 — with the 20-year time limit stipulated by Thomas Mann at his death having expired, sealed packets containing 32 of the author's notebooks were opened in Zurich, Switzerland.* Writing under the...
novel Terms of Endearment, his 1985
1985 in literature
The year 1985 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Isaac Asimov - Robots and Empire*Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale*Jean M. Auel - The Mammoth Hunters*Iain Banks - Walking on Glass...
Pulitzer Prize-winning
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
novel Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove is a 1985 Pulitzer Prize–winning western novel written by Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the Lonesome Dove series, but the third installment in the series chronologically...
, a historical saga that follows ex-Texas Rangers
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
as they drive their cattle from the Rio Grande to a new home in the frontier of Montana, and for co-writing the adapted screenplay for Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx with the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry...
. Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries and both the film of Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
and Brokeback Mountain won Academy Awards. He also awarded Brian Allen Carr the inaugural Texas Observer Story Prize.
Early life
McMurtry was born in Archer City, TexasArcher City, Texas
Archer City is a city in Archer County, Texas, United States. The city lies at the junction of State Highway 79 and State Highway 25. It is the county seat of Archer County. It is located 25 miles south of Wichita Falls, Texas and is part of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, the son of Hazel Ruth (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
McIver) and William Jefferson McMurtry, who was a rancher. He grew up on a ranch outside Archer City, Texas
Archer City, Texas
Archer City is a city in Archer County, Texas, United States. The city lies at the junction of State Highway 79 and State Highway 25. It is the county seat of Archer County. It is located 25 miles south of Wichita Falls, Texas and is part of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, which is the model for the town of Thalia that appears in much of his fiction. He earned degrees from University of North Texas
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...
(B.A. 1958) and Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
(M.A. 1960).
Career
McMurtry has won the Jesse H. Jones Award from the Texas Institute of Letters on three occasions; in 1962, for Horseman, Pass By; in 1967, for The Last Picture Show, which he shared with Tom Pendleton's The Iron Orchard; and in 1986, for Lonesome Dove. He has also won the Amon G. Carter award for periodical prose in 1966, for Texas: Good Times Gone or Here Again?.In 1964 he was awarded a Guggenheim
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
grant. In 1960, McMurtry was also a Wallace Stegner
Wallace Stegner
Wallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers"...
Fellow at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where he studied the craft of fiction under novelist Wallace Stegner
Wallace Stegner
Wallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers"...
and alongside a number of other writers, including Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
, Peter S. Beagle
Peter S. Beagle
Peter Soyer Beagle is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. His most notable works include the novels The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place and Tamsin, and the award-winning story "Two Hearts".-Career:Beagle won early recognition from The Scholastic Art &...
, Robert Stone, and Gordon Lish
Gordon Lish
Gordon Jay Lish is an American writer. As a literary editor, he championed many American authors, particularly Raymond Carver, Barry Hannah, Amy Hempel, and Richard Ford.-Early life and family:...
. McMurtry and Kesey remained friends after McMurtry left California and returned to Texas, and Kesey's famous cross-country trip with his Merry Pranksters
Merry Pranksters
The Merry Pranksters were a group of people who formed around American author Ken Kesey in 1964 and sometimes lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon...
in a day-glo painted schoolbus 'Further' included a stop at McMurtry's home in Houston, described in Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's New-Journalistic book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a work of literary journalism by Tom Wolfe, published in 1968. Using techniques from the genre of hysterical realism and pioneering new journalism, the "nonfiction novel" tells the story of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters...
. At the time (1964), McMurtry was also a Lecturer in English at Rice University. His students were entertained with stories of Hollywood and the filming of Hud
Hud (film)
Hud is a 1963 western film whose title character is an embittered and selfish modern-day cowboy. With screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By, it was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and...
for which he was consulting.
While at Stanford he became a rare-book scout, and during his years in Houston managed a book store there called the Bookman. In 1969 he moved to the Washington, D.C. area, and in 1970 with two partners started a bookshop in Georgetown which he named Booked Up. In 1988 he opened another Booked Up in Archer City, which is one of the largest single used bookstores in the United States, carrying somewhere between 400,000 and 450,000 titles. Citing economic pressures from Internet bookselling, McMurtry came close to shutting down the Archer City store in 2005, but chose to keep it open after an outpouring of public support.
McMurtry has been a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books
and is a past president of PEN
PEN American Center
PEN American Center , founded in 1922 and based in New York City, works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship. The Center has a membership of 3,300 writers, editors, and translators...
. He is perhaps best known for the film adaptations of his work, especially Hud
Hud (film)
Hud is a 1963 western film whose title character is an embittered and selfish modern-day cowboy. With screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By, it was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and...
(from the novel Horseman, Pass By
Horseman, Pass By
Horseman, Pass By, is the first novel written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry. The 1961 western portrays life on a cattle ranch from the perspective of young narrator Lonnie Bannon. Set in post-World War II Texas , the Bannon ranch is owned by Lonnie's venerable grandfather, Homer...
), starring Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
and Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her film roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still , wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's , middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud , for which she won...
; the Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
–directed The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry....
; James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
's Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
, which won five Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, including Best Picture (1984); and Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove is a 1985 Pulitzer Prize–winning western novel written by Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the Lonesome Dove series, but the third installment in the series chronologically...
, which became a popular television mini-series starring Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
and Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
.
In 1986, McMurtry received the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. The Helmerich Award
Helmerich Award
The Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award is an American literary prize awarded by the Tulsa Library Trust in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is bestowed annually upon an "internationally acclaimed" author who has "written a distinguished body of work and made a major contribution to the field of...
is presented annually by the Tulsa Library Trust
Tulsa City-County Library
The Tulsa City-County Library is the major public library system in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.-Overview:The library system serves those who live, work, go to school in, own land in, or pay property taxes on land in Tulsa County. There are 25 branches in the system: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,...
.
In 2006, he was co-winner (with Diana Ossana
Diana Ossana
Diana Lynn Ossana is an American writer who has collaborated on writing screenplays, teleplays, and novels with author Larry McMurtry since they first worked together in 1992, on the semi-fictionalized biography Pretty Boy Floyd...
) of both the Best Screenplay Golden Globe and the Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Adapted Screenplay for Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx with the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry...
. He accepted his Oscar wearing jeans
Jeans
Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...
and cowboy boots along with his dinner jacket and used his speech to promote books by reminding his audience that "Brokeback Mountain" was a short story by E. Annie Proulx
E. Annie Proulx
Edna Annie Proulx is an American journalist and author. Her second novel, The Shipping News , won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for fiction in 1994, and was made into a film in 2001...
before it was a movie. In his Golden Globe acceptance speech, he paid tribute to his Swiss-made Hermes 3000 typewriter.
Personal life
His son, James McMurtryJames McMurtry
James McMurtry is a Texas rock/Texas Country singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader and occasional actor...
, is a singer/songwriter and guitarist. His former wife Jo Scott McMurtry, an English professor, is also the author of five books. On May 5, 2011, the Dallas Morning News reported that McMurtry married Norma Faye Kesey, the widow of writer Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
, on April 29 in a civil ceremony in Archer City.
Books, novels and films
- 1961: Horseman, Pass ByHorseman, Pass ByHorseman, Pass By, is the first novel written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry. The 1961 western portrays life on a cattle ranch from the perspective of young narrator Lonnie Bannon. Set in post-World War II Texas , the Bannon ranch is owned by Lonnie's venerable grandfather, Homer...
—adapted for film as HudHud (film)Hud is a 1963 western film whose title character is an embittered and selfish modern-day cowboy. With screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By, it was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and... - 1963: Leaving Cheyenne—adapted for film as Lovin' MollyLovin' MollyLovin' Molly is a 1974 drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Anthony Perkins, Beau Bridges, Blythe Danner in the title role, Ed Binns, and Susan Sarandon. The film is based on one of Larry McMurtry's first novels, Leaving Cheyenne...
- 1966: The Last Picture Show—adapted into a film of the same nameThe Last Picture ShowThe Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry....
- 1968: In A Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas
- 1970: Moving On—This 1970 book was given high reviews by several women's organizations for its unflinching depiction of the main character Patsy Carpenter (who later appears in All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers, Terms of Endearment, and The Evening Star)
- 1972: All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers—a continuation of characters from Moving On
- 1974: It's Always We Rambled (essay)
- 1975: Terms of Endearment—a continuation of characters from Moving On and All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers—adapted into a film of the same nameTerms of EndearmentTerms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
- 1978: Somebody's Darling—a continuation of the character Jill Peel from All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers
- 1982: Cadillac Jack
- 1983: Desert Rose
- 1985: Lonesome DoveLonesome DoveLonesome Dove is a 1985 Pulitzer Prize–winning western novel written by Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the Lonesome Dove series, but the third installment in the series chronologically...
, 1986 Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize for FictionThe Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
winner, and first of what became a seriesLonesome Dove seriesThe Lonesome Dove series refers to a series of four western novels written by Larry McMurtry and the four television mini-series based upon them.-Novels:# Lonesome Dove # Streets of Laredo # Dead Man's Walk... - 1987: Texasville—adapted into a film of the same nameTexasvilleTexasville is a 1990 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich. It is a sequel to The Last Picture Show, and based on the novel Texasville by Larry McMurtry....
, and a continuation of the story begun in The Last Picture Show - 1987: Film Flam: Essays on Hollywood
- 1988: Anything For Billy
- 1988: The Murder of Mary PhaganThe Murder of Mary PhaganThe Murder of Mary Phagan, a 1987 two-part TV miniseries made by Orion Pictures Corporation and distributed by National Broadcasting Company , is a dramatization of the story of Leo Frank, a factory manager charged and convicted with murdering a 13-year-old girl, a factory worker named Mary Phagan,...
—TV story - 1989: Some Can Whistle—a continuation of the story begun in All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers.
- 1990: Buffalo GirlsBuffalo GirlsBuffalo Girls is a 1990 novel written by American author Larry McMurtry about Calamity Jane . It is written in the novel prose style mixed with a series of letters from Calamity Jane to her daughter. In her letters, Calamity describes herself as being a drunken hellraiser but never an outlaw...
—adapted into a TV movie - 1990: Montana—TV movie
- 1992: The Evening Star—adapted for film as The Evening StarThe Evening StarThe Evening Star is a 1996 sequel to Academy Award for Best Picture-winning Terms of Endearment, starring Shirley MacLaine, who reprises the role of Aurora Greenway she played in the original film. The movie takes place about fifteen years after the original following the characters from 1988 to...
and a continuation of the story begun in Terms of EndearmentTerms of EndearmentTerms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
and Moving On and All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers - 1992: Memphis—TV movie
- 1992: Falling from Grace
- 1993: Streets of LaredoStreets of LaredoStreets of Laredo is a 1993 western novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the second book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the fourth and final book chronologically. It was adaptated into a television miniseries in 1995.-Plot introduction:...
, another in the Lonesome Dove seriesLonesome Dove seriesThe Lonesome Dove series refers to a series of four western novels written by Larry McMurtry and the four television mini-series based upon them.-Novels:# Lonesome Dove # Streets of Laredo # Dead Man's Walk... - 1994: Pretty Boy FloydPretty Boy FloydCharles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd was an American bank robber. He operated in the West South Central States, and his criminal exploits gained heavy press coverage in the 1930s. Like most other prominent outlaws of that era, he was killed by law enforcement officers...
(with Diana OssanaDiana OssanaDiana Lynn Ossana is an American writer who has collaborated on writing screenplays, teleplays, and novels with author Larry McMurtry since they first worked together in 1992, on the semi-fictionalized biography Pretty Boy Floyd...
) - 1995: Dead Man's WalkDead Man's WalkDead Man's Walk is a 1995 novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the Lonesome Dove chronicle, Comanche Moon, which describes the events of the central characters' lives...
, another in the Lonesome Dove seriesLonesome Dove seriesThe Lonesome Dove series refers to a series of four western novels written by Larry McMurtry and the four television mini-series based upon them.-Novels:# Lonesome Dove # Streets of Laredo # Dead Man's Walk... - 1995: The Late Child—a continuation of the story begun in Desert Rose
- 1997: Comanche MoonComanche MoonComanche Moon is a 1997 western novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the fourth and final book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the second installment in terms the chronology of the narrative.-Plot introduction:...
, the last of the Lonesome Dove seriesLonesome Dove seriesThe Lonesome Dove series refers to a series of four western novels written by Larry McMurtry and the four television mini-series based upon them.-Novels:# Lonesome Dove # Streets of Laredo # Dead Man's Walk... - 1997: Zeke and Ned (with Diana OssanaDiana OssanaDiana Lynn Ossana is an American writer who has collaborated on writing screenplays, teleplays, and novels with author Larry McMurtry since they first worked together in 1992, on the semi-fictionalized biography Pretty Boy Floyd...
) - 1999: Crazy Horse: A Life (biography)
- 1999: Duane's Depressed—A continuation of The Last Picture Show and Texasville story
- 1999: Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections on Sixty and Beyond
- 1999: Still Wild: A Collection of Western Stories
- 2000: Roads: Driving America's Great Highways
- 2000: Boone's Lick
- 2001: Sacagawea's NicknameSacagawea's NicknameSacagawea's Nickname: Essays on the American West is a collection of essays by the American writer Larry McMurtry. It was published in 2001 by New York Review Books, and consists chiefly of articles and book reviews that had appeared in the publishing house's affiliated magazine The New York Review...
—essays on the American West - 2002: Sin KillerSin KillerSin Killer is a novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the first, both in chronological and publishing order, of The Berrybender Narratives. Set in the year 1832, it follows the adventures of a clan of eccentric British aristocrats and their retainers as they begin a hunting expedition up the Missouri...
—The Berrybender NarrativesThe Berrybender NarrativesThe Berrybender Narratives is a series of novels written by Larry McMurtry. It tells the story of an ill-fated hunting expedition lasting several years and covering much of the early American West...
, Book 1 - 2002: Paradise
- 2002: Johnson County WarJohnson County WarThe Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River, was a range war which took place in April 1892 in Johnson County, Natrona County and Converse County in the U.S. state of Wyoming...
—TV mini-series - 2003: The Wandering HillThe Wandering HillThe Wandering Hill is a novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the second, both in chronological and publishing order, of The Berrybender Narratives. Set in the year 1833, it recounts the Berrybenders' journey up the Yellowstone River into the Rocky Mountains....
—The Berrybender NarrativesThe Berrybender NarrativesThe Berrybender Narratives is a series of novels written by Larry McMurtry. It tells the story of an ill-fated hunting expedition lasting several years and covering much of the early American West...
, Book 2 - 2003: By Sorrow's RiverBy Sorrow's RiverBy Sorrow's River is a 2003 novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the third, both in chronological and publishing order, of The Berrybender Narratives...
—The Berrybender NarrativesThe Berrybender NarrativesThe Berrybender Narratives is a series of novels written by Larry McMurtry. It tells the story of an ill-fated hunting expedition lasting several years and covering much of the early American West...
, Book 3 - 2004: Folly and Glory: A NovelFolly and GloryFolly and Glory is a novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the fourth and last, both in chronological and publishing order, of The Berrybender Narratives. Set in the years 1835 and 1836, it completes the Berrybenders' North American adventure by sending them from Santa Fe to the disease-ridden and...
—The Berrybender NarrativesThe Berrybender NarrativesThe Berrybender Narratives is a series of novels written by Larry McMurtry. It tells the story of an ill-fated hunting expedition lasting several years and covering much of the early American West...
, Book 4 - 2005: Brokeback MountainBrokeback MountainBrokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx with the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry...
(with Diana OssanaDiana OssanaDiana Lynn Ossana is an American writer who has collaborated on writing screenplays, teleplays, and novels with author Larry McMurtry since they first worked together in 1992, on the semi-fictionalized biography Pretty Boy Floyd...
)—Oscar-winning screenplay (adapted from the short story by E. Annie ProulxE. Annie ProulxEdna Annie Proulx is an American journalist and author. Her second novel, The Shipping News , won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for fiction in 1994, and was made into a film in 2001...
) - 2005: The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley & the Beginnings of Superstardom in America (May)
- 2005: Oh What A Slaughter! : Massacres in the American West: 1846--1890
- 2005: Loop Group
- 2006: Telegraph Days: A Novel
- 2007: When The Light Goes—A continuation of The Last Picture Show, Texasville, and Duane's Depressed story
- 2008: Books: A Memoir
- 2009: Rhino Ranch: A Novel (Aug)—Last book of the The Last Picture Show, Texasville, Duane's Depressed, and When The Light Goes story
- 2009: Literary Life: A Second Memoir
- 2010: Boone's Lick—McMurtry will be co-writing the screenplay for the film adaptation of his 2000 novel
- 2011: Hollywood: A Third Memoir
External links
- Larry McMurtry Collection, from the Rare Book & Texana Collections, University of North TexasUniversity of North TexasThe University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...
website - McMurtry, Larry. "The Author Who Sold Books", Washingtonian, August 1, 2008.
- Larry McMurtry Papers 1984-1991, from the Texas State University-San Marcos website
- The Treasure Hunter Michael DirdaMichael DirdaMichael Dirda , a Fulbright Fellowship recipient, is a Pulitzer Prize–winning book critic for the Washington Post.-Career:Having studied at Oberlin College for his undergraduate degree, Dirda took a Ph.D. from Cornell University in comparative literature. In 1978 Dirda started writing for the...
review of McMurtry's Books: A Memoir from The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity... - Larry McMurtry screenplays, 1979-1988 and undated, in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University