Telegraph Days

What a wonderful novel! The fictitious character of Nellie weaves her life in and out of the lives of historical figures of the Old West. We see her life touch (in backstory) George Custer & "Billy" Hickock. In the story we get to meet Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, the Earp brothers and the Clanton family along with other notables of the day. The narrative voice of a smart, determine "organized" woman (a proper Virginia belle with a Scarlet-O'Hara steely will and a penchant for "copulation") makes for the just the touch in this light-hearted Western.

Reader Annie Potts is known for her role on Designing women and in many other TV shows and in film, and here lends a seasoned and fine voice to Larry McMurty's winning western novel Telegraph Days, telling of siblings orphaned by their father's suicide. Journeying to a nearby town they make their mark as a sheriff's deputy and a town telegrapher, finding possible romance and fame as a result. A fine Western saga packed with adventure and romance evolves.

McMurtry has the ability to reduce the Old West myth to an absurdity and create a new one. The narrator, Nellie, reminds me of the narrator in "True Grit," funny, self-assured to the point of haughtiness, and even prurient. I do have a serious question: Why would the town of Rita Blanca have a telegraph office when there was no railroad through town? It seems to me that you wouldn't have one without the other in 1876. If the author had simply run the tracks through Rita Blanca, it would all have been fine. To those who say it is doubtful that Nellie could have met all the famous characters she mentions, stuff a sock in it. First of all, Nellie may be laying it on a little thick. Secondly, this is a "send up," not a work of history. It's funny and it's entertaininment. You can't hardly ask for more.

Larry McMurtry continues to push the boundaries of classic Old West literature in this novel, with an inventive and exciting central character ( Nellie Courtright ) and great peripheral characters composed of fictional inventions as well as new takes on real Western historical people, such as Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickock, the Earps, and others. Nellie is simply a delight. A tough-as-nails, horny-as-a-goat, yet organized, intelligent and humorous woman, she's a wonderful addition to the pantheon of classic Western characters. She's the first-person narrator of this delightful novel. Through her eyes, we see the development of the Old West in a different take that is actually reminiscent of the classic John Ford movies, especially "Liberty Valence". "When the facts become legend, print the legend", or something to that effect. I really loved this book. It's fast-paced, exciting and engaging with fully three-dimensional character. I read it in two sittings, and wished it was longer. Get it! It's great!

I have always been a big fan of McMurtry's western novels, though his most recent efforts have not been his best. MrMurtry likes to tell us he is demythologize the west, yet his best books seem to resonate with readers because they have the exact opposite effect. Folks loved "Lonesome Dove" because it gave them every thing they wanted in a western (the myth) and more. In "Telegraph days" we are shown the final days of the frontier (when most of these myths were born) and we are introduced to Nellie Courtright, a telegraph operator in Rita Blanca, in the then outlaw territory of Oklahoma. Nellie's fortunes change when she writes a dime novel about her younger brother single handedly wiping out a gang of desperate outlaws (something he did do, but only through dumb luck). The story follows Nellie's life as she meets many of the iconic figures of the American west from Buffalo Bill to Wyatt Earp (Even witnessing the shoot out at the OK Corral, and of course McMurtry puts his spin on this very mythic event of the old west!). As in his best works McMurtry deftly mixes humor with a sadness for things past, that in the end only seems to create his own myth of the west-one I enjoyed very much! If you like McMurtry, Check out "Across the High Lonesome" a modern day western that I purchased after seeing McMurtry had given the book high marks----and he was right, great story!Across the High Lonesome