Larry McMurtry (1936-2021) was an American novelist, screenwriter, and essayist known for his works set in the American West. Born in Archer City, Texas, McMurtry was the son of a rancher. He graduated from North Texas State College and worked as a journalist before turning to writing. His 1966 novel "The Last Picture Show" and its 1971 film adaptation earned him critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The novel was followed by the sequels "Texasville" (1987) and "Duane's Depressed" (1999). McMurtry also wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Lonesome Dove" (1985), a historical epic about a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. He penned several other acclaimed novels, including "The Horseman, Pass By" (1961), "Terms of Endearment" (1975), and "Brokeback Mountain" (1997). McMurtry's works explored themes of family, loss, and the changing American West. He received numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the Golden Globe Award, and the Academy Award.
Reading Order
12 series · 88 booksThalia, Texas Series
Last Picture Show Series
Houston Series
Desert Rose Series
Lonesome Dove Series
Chronological Lonesome Dove Series
Berrybender Narratives Series
Larry McMurtry Other Novels
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cadillac Jack | 1982 | Buy | |
| 2 | Anything for Billy | 1988 | Buy | |
| 3 | Buffalo Girls | 1990 | Buy | |
| 4 | Pretty Boy Floyd ( With: Diana Ossana) | 1994 | Buy | |
| 5 | Zeke and Ned ( With: Diana Ossana) | 1997 | Buy | |
| 6 | Boone's Lick | 2000 | Buy | |
| 7 | Loop Group | 2004 | Buy | |
| 8 | Telegraph Days | 2006 | Buy | |
| 9 | The Last Kind Words Saloon | 2014 | Buy |
Larry McMurtry Short Story Collections
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay ( With: Annie Proulx, Diana Ossana) | 2005 | Buy |
Larry McMurtry Non-Fiction Books
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas | 1968 | Buy | |
| 2 | Film Flam: Essays on Hollywood | 1987 | Buy | |
| 3 | Crazy Horse (Short Story) | 1999 | Buy | |
| 4 | Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen | 1999 | Buy | |
| 5 | Roads: A Millennial Journey Along America's Great Interstate Highways | 2000 | Buy | |
| 6 | Paradise | 2001 | Buy | |
| 7 | Sacagawea's Nickname: Essays on the American West | 2001 | Buy | |
| 8 | Oh What a Slaughter: Massacres in the American West, 1846-1890 | 2005 | Buy | |
| 9 | The Colonel and Little Missie | 2006 | Buy | |
| 10 | Books: A Memoir | 2008 | Buy | |
| 11 | Literary Life: A Second Memoir | 2009 | Buy | |
| 12 | Hollywood: A Third Memoir | 2010 | Buy | |
| 13 | Custer | 2012 | Buy | |
| 14 | Missouri River | 2015 | Buy |
Penguin Lives Series
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abraham Lincoln ( By: Thomas Keneally) | 1960 | Buy | |
| 2 | Mao Zedong: A Life ( By: Jonathan D. Spence) | 1999 | Buy | |
| 3 | Mozart: A Life (Short Story) ( By: Peter Gay) | 1999 | Buy | |
| 4 | Marcel Proust ( By: Edmund White) | 1999 | Buy | |
| 5 | Crazy Horse (Short Story) | 1999 | Buy | |
| 6 | Saint Augustine ( By: Garry Wills) | 1999 | Buy | |
| 7 | James Joyce ( By: Edna O'Brien) | 1999 | Buy | |
| 8 | Rosa Parks ( By: Douglas Brinkley) | 2000 | Buy | |
| 9 | Virginia Woolf ( By: Nigel Nicolson) | 2000 | Buy | |
| 10 | Woodrow Wilson (Short Story) ( By: Louis Auchincloss) | 2000 | Buy | |
| 11 | Herman Melville ( By: Elizabeth Hardwick) | 2000 | Buy | |
| 12 | Leonardo da Vinci: A Life ( By: Sherwin B. Nuland) | 2000 | Buy | |
| 13 | Dante ( By: R.W.B. Lewis) | 2001 | Buy | |
| 14 | Jane Austen: A Life ( By: Carol Shields) | 2001 | Buy | |
| 15 | Buddha ( By: Karen Armstrong) | 2001 | Buy | |
| 16 | Simone Weil ( By: Francine du Plessix Gray) | 2001 | Buy | |
| 17 | Andy Warhol: A Biography ( By: Wayne Koestenbaum) | 2001 | Buy | |
| 18 | Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life ( By: Marshall Frady) | 2001 | Buy | |
| 19 | Joseph Smith ( By: Robert V. Remini) | 2002 | Buy | |
| 20 | Winston Churchill: A Life ( By: John Keegan) | 2002 | Buy | |
| 21 | Pope John XXIII ( By: Thomas Cahill) | 2002 | Buy | |
| 22 | Charles Dickens ( By: Jane Smiley) | 2002 | Buy | |
| 23 | Elvis Presley ( By: Bobbie Ann Mason) | 2002 | Buy | |
| 24 | Saint Therese of Lisieux ( By: Kathryn Harrison) | 2003 | Buy | |
| 25 | Robert E. Lee ( By: Roy Blount Jr.) | 2003 | Buy | |
| 26 | Frank Lloyd Wright: A Life ( By: Ada Louise Huxtable) | 2004 | Buy | |
| 27 | George Herbert Walker Bush ( By: Tom Wicker) | 2004 | Buy | |
| 28 | Napoleon ( By: Paul Johnson) | 2006 | Buy | |
| 29 | Julia Child ( By: Laura Shapiro) | 2007 | Buy | |
| 30 | Joan of Arc ( By: Mary Gordon) | 2008 | Buy | |
| 31 | Martin Luther ( By: Martin E. Marty) | 2008 | Buy | |
| 32 | Branch Rickey: A Life ( By: Jimmy Breslin) | 2011 | Buy |