Pastures of the Empty Page : Fellow Writers on the Life and Legacy of Larry Mcmurtry / George Getschow, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Getschow, George, 1950- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Western stories--History and criticism.

Western stories.

McMurtry, Larry.

McMurtry, Larry--Friends and associates.

McMurtry, Larry. Works--Selections.

McMurtry, Larry--Characters.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (286 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin, TX : University of Texas Press, [2023]

Summary:

"Larry McMurtry is the author of dozens of novels (Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show), screenplays (Brokeback Mountain, Terms of Endearment), and essays ("Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen"), among other writings. He won the Pulitzer Prize, Oscars, and Emmys, among other honors. When he died in March 2021, he was possibly Texas's best-known and best-loved writer, an honor he famously dismissed with a t-shirt that read "minor regional novelist." George Getschow worked with McMurtry through the Archer City Writer's Workshop, an annual three-day event in McMurtry's hometown that pairs emerging and established writers. He's leveraged that network to build this collection of essays paying homage to McMurtry, only a handful of which have been previously published. The pieces in the volume pay tribute to McMurtry in a variety of ways. Stephen Graham Jones captures the thrill of seeing the legendary author prowling the stacks in his used-book store, wondering if his own books might one day be on those same shelves. Sarah Bird talks about McMurtry's "messy but mythic west" that made Texas appealing to her. Elizabeth Crook talks about how difficult it is to let go of McMurtry's characters, particularly those from Lonesome Dove, a book Geoff Dyer also found himself surprisingly unable to ignore despite everything he knew about it (it's long, slow to develop, etc.). Greg Curtis recalls McMurtry as a fellow student at Rice, and Charlie McMurtry, Larry's brother, writes about growing up with him in excerpts from his dissertation. Stephanie Elizondo Griest is enamored and perplexed by a shelf of books in McMurtry's private collection that he called his "runaways," travel accounts by 19th-century women. Diana Ossana, McMurtry's longtime screenwriting partner and one of his dearest friends, writes movingly about their friendship and many collaborations. Getschow has written an introduction that sketches the contours of McMurtry's life"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Acknowledgments / George Getschow

Foreword / Stephen Graham Jones

Introduction / George Getschow

Native ground. In awesome wonder / Charlie McMurtry

The boy with the lamp / Paulette Jiles

The Larry McMurtry I knew / Skip Hollandsworth

The master geologist of Archer County / Erik Calonius

Larry's oil patch legacy / Joe W. Specht

Teacher and apprentices. Leave his saddle on the wall / William Broyles

McMurtry's mild discouragement / Gregory Curtis

"Mike, it's Larry. I'm in trouble." / Mike Evans

Myth buster and myth maker. Ranging across Texas / Geoff Dyer

Gus, call Danny and the Rangers / Doug J. Swanson

The mishap / Oscar Cásares

Finding home / Sarah Bird

Reader and bookman. Larry McMurtry, reader / Bill Marvel

An afternoon with Larry / Greg Giddings

On book scouting and ghostwritten erotica / Brandon Kennedy

Runaways / Stephanie Elizondo Griest

Bonding over books / Kathryn Jones

Collaborators and confidants. The Moby-Dick of the Plains / Michael Korda

Stirring the memories / Diana Ossana

My long trail to Lonesome Dove / Carol Flake Chapman

An unlikely bond / Susan Freudenheim

Not so silent women / Sherry Kafka Wagner

Scenes from a friendship / Beverly Lowry

Road trip tips from Larry McMurtry / Katy Vine

Critic and champion. To hell with the sunny slopes / John Nova Lomax

Writer, pass by / Jim Black

Loving Gus / Elizabeth Crook - Workshopper. Somewhere a writer / Kathy Floyd

McMurtry's rebuff / Eric Nishimoto

At the intersection of aspiration and asphyxiation / Dianne Solis

Reckoning at Idiot Ridge / Cathy Booth Thomas

Furthur / Dave Tarrant - Legacy. Writing plainly and unforgettably / Stephen Harrigan

The Borderlands : a home for misfits like me and McMurtry's Danny Deck / Alfredo Corchado

All my friends are going to be Larry / W. K. Stratton

McMurtry passing by / Lawrence Wright.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4773-2788-6

OCLC:

1351787432