- Paperback: 177 pages
- Publisher: Univ of New Mexico Pr; Reprint edition (October 1983)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0826307213
- ISBN-13: 978-0826307217
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.7 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 249 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
A. C. Greene Takes apart Texas with all the skill and sadness of a master surgeon performing a postmortem on his mother.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
Writing with characteristic grace and wit, Larry McMurtry tackles the full spectrum of his favorite themes -- from sex, literature, and cowboys to rodeos, small-town folk, and big-city slickers.
First published in 1968, In a Narrow Grave is the classic statement of what it means to come from Texas. In these essays, McMurtry opens a window into the past and present of America's largest state. In his own words:
"I recognized, too, that the no-longer-open but still spacious range on which my ranching family had made its livelihood...would not produce a livelihood for me or for my siblings and their kind....The myth of the cowboy grew purer every year because there were so few actual cowboys left to contradict it...." "I had actually been living in cities for fourteen years when I pulled together these essays; intellectually I had been a city boy, but imaginatively, I was still trudging up the dusty path that led out of the country....""Before I was out of high school, I realized I was witnessing the dying of a way of life -- the rural, pastoral way of life. In the Southwest the best energies were no longer to be found on the homeplace, or in the small towns; the cities required these energies and the cities bought them...."
--This text refers to an alternate
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First Sentence
begun to feel that my devoted readership deserved something simpler in the way of titles. A few weeks later Mr. Lloyd Anderson, the genial Paramount location manager, came to Texas to look for a film site. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
begun to feel that my devoted readership deserved something simpler in the way of titles. A few weeks later Mr. Lloyd Anderson, the genial Paramount location manager, came to Texas to look for a film site. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accurate and Fun Record of Texas of the l960's,
By Evelyn Horan (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas (Paperback)
So it's dated history now, but written when Larry McMurtry was a young man beginning his publishing career. What an interesting and insightful read into the views of a "younger man" who later became an honored Pulitzer prize winner! As a native Texan, about McMurtry's age, I can recall a l960's Texas. He has treated his account with wit, energy, honesty and humor! I loved every page of the book and found myself chuckling at life the way it once was in the Lone Star state. As some have mentioned, it would be interesting to have a modern-day follow up of the Texas of today, but perhaps since Mr. McMurtry has now chosen to return to his roots, in Archer City, leaving the Eastern cities to other folks, he might be completely satisfied and comfortable with life as it in his small hometown in rural Texas where on each corner of the town square, he has placed a sizeable bookstore housing rare and collectable books, his legacy to future generations of Texans and others interested in such matters. I have toured these collections, and they are impressive indeed!Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl Books One - Three
4.0 out of 5 stars
Narrow Graves & Wide Open Spaces,
By
This review is from: In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas (Paperback)
Larry McMurtry knows Texas, and in 1968 put together a book of his observations about all things Texas called In a Narrow Grave. The title is a fragment of a line from the song "The Dying Cowboy"; the title of the song relates more obviously to McMurtry's main topic. From McMurtry's perspective Texas is on the cusp of a change of identity, from cattle rich to oil rich. He both laments and celebrates the passing of the cowboy looking from the Texas that once was to what Texas is becoming. He does all of this in a manner that is both amusing, informative and thought provoking.McMurtry chose to be "bookish" as he puts it, to following in his father and uncles' footsteps, though as McMurtry relates, those footsteps were being blown away and getting more difficult to follow all the time. He is critical of both the past he admires and the present he seems to distrust. His journey is at times objective, subjective and intensely personal. In the most touching piece, the last in the book, he introduces us to the McMurtry clan and gives us a family profile of success and failure on the open Texas plain that is touching and heartbreaking in its depth. He describes lost times, places and people. The shortfall here is the material is dated. Thirty-plus years have produced much change and it would have been interesting if McMurtry had produced an epilogue to bring us up to date and help us close the years since In a Narrow Grave was first published.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent companion to early McMurtry novels,
By Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas (Paperback)
In a Narrow Grave is a short collection of essays published in 1968 after McMurtry's first three novels ("Horeseman, Pass By," "Leaving Cheyenne," and "The Last Picture Show"). The themes explored in these works of fiction are delved into further in this non-fiction work. Specifically, McMurtry discusses growing up in rural Texas and how that influenced his work. The main theme of the essays, not surprisingly, is the death of small town Texas as people abandoned the country for the big cities (he focuses on Dallas, Houston, and Austin).Perhaps the most interesting chapter is the last one; McMurtry talks about his family, which includes several generations of Texas ranchers and cowboys. Many of the stories he tells have made their way into his novels, so one really begins to appreciate just how autobiographical his novels are. I also greatly enjoyed the chapter about the filming of the movie version of his novel, "Horseman, Pass By" (the movie is called "Hud" - a great classic). Another interesting section describes McMurtry's road trip across Texas. Less enjoyable was the chapter on Texas writers pre-1960, which focused on several non-fiction writers of whom I was unaware. Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit and look forward to reading more of McMurtry's work. If you like McMurtry's fiction work, then you'll also likely enjoy this short compendium.
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