I think this is the first McMurty book I've read and I'm glad I did. While The Last Picture Show is fairly short (just 220 pages), McMurty deftly manages to give significant depth to more than half a dozen characters. Oddly, I think the characters he spent the most time with seemed the shallowest (both in development and in personal character). The story is a coming of age tale, a decline of western civilization tale and more. McMurty's writing is topnotch. I'm open to reading more of his work. ( )

Having read "Texasville" and other books by Larry, reading this now brings a sensibility and back story to the characters. Duane, Jacy and others are used in many of his more current books so learning about them years previous sheds new light. A fan of the small town, quirky character genre I love his sense of humor and offbeat ideas though I have to admit Texaville was much funnier. But it's obvious why this was adapted to screen and why the film drew so much interest. ( )

surprisingly sexy ( )

Originally published in 1971. Read too many years ago to remember much about this book, only that it was an easy light read....we were living in Port Hadlock, Washington. I had 3 young kids at the time. I needed easy reads to escape. ( )

My local library had a summer reading program. I didn't complete mine in time but that was fine because I found this great book. One of the challenges was to read a book that published the year you were born. This gem popped up.

It is a lovely coming of age story, that is just as current now as it was then. A story of growing up in a small town that changes, falls in love easily and hard, is lonely and heartbroken, has great characters and doesn't have a big message as it just lives. We have all been here, at some point of our lives, perhaps in a different setting, but we have all felt this way.

Adult situations ( )