Books: A Memoir
by McMurtry, Larry
- Used
- very good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 1416583351
- ISBN 13
- 9781416583356
- Seller
-
Kraków, Poland
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Simon & Schuster, 2009 8vo (20 cm), [10], 259, [3] pp. Laminated wrappers (minor shelf-wear). "Spanning a lifetime of literary achievement, Larry McMurtry has succeeded at a wide variety of genres, from coming-of-age novels, such as The Last Picture Show to the reinvention of the "Western" on a grand scale like the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove. Here at last is the private McMurtry writing about himself as a boy growing up in a largely "bookless" world, as a young man devouring the world of literature, as a fledgling writer and family man, and above all as one of America's most prominent "bookmen." He brings the reader along on his journeys to becoming an astute and adventurous collector who would eventually open book stores of rare and collectible books in Georgetown, Houston, and finally in his previously "bookless" hometown of Archer City, Texas." (from the blurb)
Reviews
On Oct 7 2010, Pbpunk said:
My review of Books by Larry McMurtry(2 stars)This is a book I CAN put down rather easily. It has no "juice". Reminds me of an inferior iteration of a W.S. Burroughs cut-up job, randomly incomplete snippets of a bookman's life. I'm about halfway through Books and I am finding it quite lacking on so many levels. McMurtry just gets started with something of interest, and poof, he moves on to something else, almost fascinating, only to leave his reader once again in the dust. It's maddening. Of course I can't stop reading it right in the middle so I will continue through to the end, although I know I will regret losing another hour to finish it.Learning of his early upbringing with no books in the house, I was hooked. When he begins to tell of his growing passion for books, and his fear that this would be a narrative of interest only to others with a similar passion, I became excited to read more. McMurty does not deliver. Rather than holding my attention and awe, I find "books" to have devolved after the first few chapters into something quite dreadful and boring.An author with the ability to write as McMurtry does has cheated an audience he alone might have held in the palm of his hand. Rather than caress fellow bookmen like some fine leather tome he might hold in high regard, he has relegated us to the remainder pile, covers removed...no love at all. It is a shame, as I am certain the depth of his real life in books is far more interesting than the poorly rendered skin of what he has provided here.I noticed McMurtry split up his memoirs into 3 parts. Reeks of over-commercialism, and I already feel like it won't be worth the time to read the other 2. After reading the reviews for those, I definitely won't purchase either of them.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Leopolis Volodymyr Dmyterko (PL)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 008930
- Title
- Books: A Memoir
- Author
- McMurtry, Larry
- Format/Binding
- Soft cover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 1416583351
- ISBN 13
- 9781416583356
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2009
- Bookseller catalogs
- Bibliography; Book collecting;
Terms of Sale
Leopolis Volodymyr Dmyterko
Any book may be returned within 14 days for any reason. All books remain our property until paid for in full. Export of books, manuscripts, maps etc. is subject to the Act of 23 July 2003 on the protection of arts and antiquities. Orders usually ship within 3 business days via priority or express mail, with tracking.
About the Seller
Leopolis Volodymyr Dmyterko
Biblio member since 2019
Kraków
About Leopolis Volodymyr Dmyterko
Specializing in mathematical sciences, Church Slavonic and Slavic books, Eastern European history, travels and topography, bibliography, history and art of the book, history of libraries and collections
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...