Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 5/23/2019 + 1193 more book reviews

I have been a fan of McMurtry ever since reading Leaving Cheyenne and The Last Picture Show back in the early 1970s. And then, of course, I read Lonesome Dove, probably my all-time favorite novel. This memoir, Books, is about McMurtry's love of buying, collecting, and selling books. He owns one of the largest antiquarian bookshops in the country located in his home town of Archer, Texas. Some day, I would like to visit this immense store. That said, I was pretty mixed on this memoir. I thought it would be more about the books that McMurtry read and loved but it was more about book buying and selling. There were endless stories about buying massive collections of books from people and/or stores that I have never heard of which to me made this a little tedious. He does talk about some of his interests including travel narratives and books about WWI and WWII. And he talks about his involvement in screenwriting and Hollywood which was somewhat interesting. But overall, I would only mildly recommend this to anyone interested in the fine art of book buying and selling.

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