Moving on

To correct and amplify on some of the earlier reviews -- As Wagner's 'Ring' is a prologue followed by a trilogy, Larry McMurtry's Houston books are a trilogy followed by a epilogue -- in chronological order, 'Moving On', 'All My Friends Are Going to be Strangers', 'Terms of Endearment', and 'The Evening Star'. After McMurtry attended Texas Tech University, he went to graduate school in English at Rice University in Houston, where he lived and taught in the late '60s - early '70s. These novels are a perfect historical & sociological mirror of the time & place (I was there, too), but more than that they are stories of memorable, completely developed, fully complex characters lost between an old & mythical Texas of ranches & rodeos and the new urban Texas fueled by big money, real estate & oil. Is there a more memorable character than Patsy Carpenter in contemporary American literature? She cries a lot -- oh, does she cry -- but she cries because she is lost, alone & confused, and McMurtry never backs away from or softens his portrayal of her despair. We intimately know her family & friends, their loves, affairs, betrayals and kindnesses, and they quickly become believable, fully human, and known. This is a long book and, in musical terms, stays mostly between mezzo-piano & mezzo-forte -- short on dramatic plot development and cathartic climaxes. But 'Moving On' is a beautifully developed portrait of a group of almost-real people, and you will remember them for a long, long time.

The first book (I think) in the trilogy that includes "Terms of Endearment" and "All my friends are going to be strangers". "Moving On" is excellent. McMurtry's description of small everyday tasks and oddball characters are beautiful. I read somewhere that McMurtry's women friends hated the book when it came out (one of whom supplied the title - McMurtry wanted to call it 'Patsy Carpenter') because the main character cries a lot. A LOT. But she is engaging and I wanted the book to go on and on and on.

This big book is replete with McMurtry's usual supporting cast of strong and strange characters (the best is Sonny, the ex-Rodeo Champion of the World and a truly loose man). The main character, Patsy, who is a study in female contradictions and a pleasure to behold on paper, prances fitfully through the '60s and marriage, lust, motherhood, and a Haight-Ashbury family intervention. Joining her are best friend Emma Horton (prequel to "Terms of Endearment")and a comically engaging parade of academics, lovers, rivals, and barrel riders. The novel really captures the confusion and mindful wanderlust of the time and once again paints the reader's mind in the many hues of McMurtry's Texas. Savor it slowly and often while pondering your ideal cast for the Best Movie Which Never Got Made

Moving On was one of Larry McMurtry's first, and in my opinion, his best book. Its main character, Patsy, is an excellent portrait of an evolving personality. The incidental characters, both at the rodeo and back in Austin, are all well drawn. McMurtry also excells in capturing the culture, personality and humidity of the southwest. Despite my love of some of his other books (Horseman, Pass By and The Last Picture Show), Moving On is my favorite