When the Light Goes

All of these books in this series have been very enjoyable. Last Picture Show,Texasville, Duane's Depressed and now When The Light Goes gives an interesting view of people my age. If you question your purpose in life, read this series.

Once again, L.M. views life with a gentle, perceptive realism that marks all his fiction. He is, is my humble unscholarly opinion, one of the best true storytellers of our time--able to have you laugh out loud and shed a sentimental tear, both while reading the same page. Only complaint on this one: TOO SHORT. Steve in Mechanicsburg, PA

I liked this book for several reasons. Texasville was the first novel I ever read in my life. I was nine years old. I have since read that one probably fifteen times or maybe more. I thought Duane's Depressed was the saddest book I have ever read. I am a huge fan of Larry McMurtry, and therefore probably biased. I would also strongly recommend reading the other three books in this series before this one. His last few books have been (to most people's ire) shorter ones that he was writing twenty years ago. To me, he is saying more with fewer words, and he is doing it very well. This book says a lot more than any other 195 page book that I have ever read. That is because it had three other books to set the stage for it. It is interesting that in Duane's Depressed and The Evening Star, Mr. McMurtry mentions Proust. Mostly what he says about Remembrance of Things Past in those two books is how daunting it is to try to get through it, the main reason being that it is so long. Mr. McMurtry always seems to be way ahead of the rest of the literary field with ideas that make good novels. I think with the last few he has put out (Telegraph Days, each of the Berrybender novels, Loop Group, the Boone's Lick, and the non-fiction stuff like Roads, Paradise, and Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen) he has been looking for a way for the words to pack more of a punch, therefore making the need for one thousand page epics not so great. It has also been a great debate over his career about whether he is regional, local, national, worldwide, or whatever. One way to look at it is to say that even though anyone can read a Larry McMurtry book and enjoy it, people who are from or have been around Texas very much can REALLY identify with his writing. More so than any other Texas author. When the Light Goes and the other three novels in this series each capture perfectly the attitudes and nuances of small Texas oilpatch towns over a span of a fifty year period. I can't think of anything I have read that comes close to that sort of thing except maybe Updike's Rabbit. My view, being a Texan, is that Larry McMurtry is an international talent and an absolute Texas treasure.

This is the fourth book following Duane from The Last Picture Show" in 1966,220 pages;followed by "Texasville" in 1987,542pages; followed again by "Duane's Depressed" in 1999,431 pages;and now "When the light Goes" in 2007,195 pages. It is a great read,but all too short by any standard. The book isn't even really 195 pages.The novel has been broken up into 48 chapters,many only a couple of pages,each starting half way down the page,many half pages of print, and 27 blank pages.When this is all taken into account,the novel is only really about 140 pages long.I won't try to summarize the story since the reviewer ahead of me has already done a good job of that.This little novel reminds me of a couple of things. In my youth,I spent a lot of time in the local Pool Hall.There was an expression that was very often thrown out when a "novice" was on the losing end of a game; "The lesson, you paid for; the experience is free." In this novel ,I guess the appropriate line might be; "The story,you paid for;the sex lesson is free." The second thing that this book reminded me of was a birding trip I took to Arizona a few years ago.Patagonia is one of the most famous "birding hot spots" in North America. While I found the birding super there,I wondered why anyone would want to retire to such a remote place. Duane sure seemed to find a reason. What else can I say,it may even be McMurtry at his best; but much,much,too short. What do you think? Could it be made into a movie? Now there's a challenge for you;if there ever was one!

What a great book! Just when you think McMurtry can't pull anything out of his bag of tricks, here comes a slim wonderful volume about starrin Duane Moore. McMurtry presents Moore with a new dilemma, told with his signature sympathy and compassion that makes him one of our best storytellers writing today. Many contemporary writers can take lessons from McMurtry on sheer storytelling genius. The only flaw in this story was the detailed sex sequences, though at the same time you get a character that is reacting to the current influence of telling everyone way too many details about their private lives. Long live Duane and long live the writing genius of McMurtry. McMurtry is one of our national treasures, pure storytelling bliss!