Description
Book SynopsisA collection of essays that offers an intimate view of Larry McMurtry, America's preeminent western novelist, through the eyes of a pantheon of writers he helped shape through his work over the course of his unparalleled literary life
Trade ReviewA conclave of writers gathers to consider the late Larry McMurtry (1936-2021). . . . Sprinkled with surprising revelations, this is a good collection for every McMurtry fan’s library. * Kirkus *
The elegiac remembrances offer intimate glimpses into McMurtry’s life (collaborator Diana Ossana recalls the “emotional breakdown” he suffered after a heart attack), with no shortage of surprises. . . . McMurtry’s fans will want to track this down. * Publishers Weekly *
More than three dozen writers contemplate the legacy of Texas’s most beloved author. . . a moving tribute. -- Andrew Graybill * Texas Monthly *
McMurtry, who died in 2021, famously referred to himself as a 'minor regional writer.' In this Festschrift, a host of authors and close friends, including his longtime screenwriting partner Diana Ossana, argue the opposite in essays that celebrate the author’s talents, contributions to literature, and mentoring of other writers. * Alta *
This book is part eulogy, part memoir, part literary criticism. All of it is absorbing . . . Among the pleasures of
Pastures of the Empty Page are the short biographical sketches of the contributors dangled like literary gifts at the end of each piece. * Austin-American Statesman *
The essays in Getschow's book consider McMurtry's position in the pantheon of great literature — along with a critical take on how he wrote about minority groups. * Axios Dallas *
In
Pastures of the Empty Page, Getschow defines how each writer, by various avenues, was dealt an education in storytelling by McMurtry, the sensitive but formidable master of chronicling this region’s built and behavioral vernaculars. * Patron Magazine *
On the whole, the quality of the [contributed] pieces is gratifyingly high. Some of the richest essays are evocative reminiscences by intimates, among them Ossana, Gregory Curtis, Mike Evans, and Beverly Lowry, all of whom served as sources for Daugherty. * The Times Literary Supplement *
Pastures of the Empty Page: Fellow Writers on the Life and Legacy of Larry McMurtry (University of Texas Press) edited by George Getchow, contains essays from a who’s who list of Texas writers about Larry McMurtry’s influence on Texas culture and their lives. It includes an array of reflections on history and the writing process as well as anecdotes about McMurtry’s off-beat and innovative life. * Texas Observer *
Table of Contents
- George Getschow, Acknowledgments
- Stephen Graham Jones, Foreword
- George Getschow, Introduction
- Native Ground
- Charlie McMurtry, In Awesome Wonder
- Paulette Jiles, The Boy with the Lamp
- Skip Hollandsworth, The Larry McMurtry I Knew
- Erik Calonius, The Master Geologist of Archer County
- Joe W. Specht, Larry’s Oil-Patch Legacy
- Teacher and Apprentices
- William Broyles, Leave His Saddle on the Wall
- Gregory Curtis, McMurtry’s Mild Discouragement
- Mike Evans, “Mike, It’s Larry. I’m in Trouble.”
- Myth Buster and Myth Maker
- Geoff Dyer, Ranging across Texas
- Doug J. Swanson, Gus, Call, Danny, and the Rangers
- Oscar Cásares, Snakes in a River
- Sarah Bird, Finding Home
- Reader and Bookman
- Bill Marvel, Larry McMurtry, Reader
- Greg Giddings, An Afternoon with Larry
- Brandon Kennedy, On Book Scouting and Ghostwritten Erotica
- Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Runaways
- Kathryn Jones, Bonding over Books
- Collaborators and Confidants
- Diana Ossana, Stirring the Memories
- Michael Korda, The Moby-Dick of the Plains
- Carol Flake Chapman, My Long Trail to Lonesome Dove
- Susan Freudenheim, An Unlikely Bond
- Sherry Kafka Wagner, Not So Silent Women
- Beverly Lowry, Scenes from a Friendship
- Katy Vine, Road Trip Tips from Larry McMurtry
- Critic and Champion
- John Nova Lomax, To Hell with the Sunny Slopes
- Jim Black, Writer, Pass By
- Elizabeth Crook, Loving Gus
- Workshopper
- Kathy Floyd, Somewhere, a Writer . . .
- Eric Nishimoto, McMurtry’s Rebuff
- Dianne Solis, At the Intersection of Aspiration and Asphyxiation
- Cathy Booth Thomas, Reckoning at Idiot Ridge
- Dave Tarrant, “Furthur”
- Legacy
- Stephen Harrigan, Writing Plainly and Unforgettably
- Alfredo Corchado, The Borderlands: A Home for Misfits Like Me and McMurtry’s Danny Deck
- W. K. Stratton, All My Friends Are Going to Be Larry
- Lawrence Wright, McMurtry Passes By
