Popular Culture Review 29.1 (Spring 2018) | Page 160

By Michael Velez

Review of Understanding Larry McMurtry , by Steven Frye

By Michael Velez

One might think that the work of Texan author Larry McMurtry has been watched more than it has been read . While The Last Picture Show and Lonesome Dove were popular and critical successes in the theater and on the television screen , the author ’ s novels remain much admired by a sizable , enduring readership . Steven Frye has written an insightful overview of McMurtry ’ s wide-ranging body of work — and aesthetic — in Understanding Larry McMurtry . Frye here assays the full output of an estimable writing career that includes novels , screenplays , essays , and memoirs .
In the work ’ s introductory chapter , Frye provides an analysis of the author ’ s aesthetic , deftly positioning McMurtry both within and outside the genre Western . This reflects McMurtry ’ s long-stated misgivings that the genre Western tends to enshrine simplistic national myths . Frye briefly traces the evolution of the Western , arguing that McMurtry ’ s contributions remain singular . To Fyre , the author ’ s literary craftsmanship draws on well-honed realism , an “ antipathy ” to genre conventions combined with a willingness to deconstruct such along with a discerning eye for character and setting . Frye further argues that McMurtry uses elements of both the historical romance and the novel of manners to fashion a literary West that can be as drily historical as it is archetypically rich .
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