The Last Kind Words Saloon: A Novel

I only made it halfway through this book before I gave up out of boredom. The only thing that kept me reading that long was the banter between Wyatt and Doc. Typical of a McMurtry story, there's a lot of death going on, both animal and human, and that got old quickly. The story is so slight that I got the impression he was just writing this one for the paycheck. Revisionist history, in this case, doesn't make for an enjoyable read.

As the owner of most of the McMurtry books(and movies) this was about what I expected. While it might be called rather scant, like some of the later books, it still has the flavor and elements of the greatest American author. I, with many others, believe Lonesome Dove should replace Moby Dick as the greatest American novel
l.Enviable prose master, and sometimes poet.

This is a book that documents the BDS movement whose mandate is to destroy the Jewish State.The movement is all about lies that have captivated ignorant students and entertainers Nd even some European nations.The book explains that IsrEl isnot an Apartheid state.Over 150 different cultures are represented there.Thereix no policy of genocide in Israel.there are no plotstomurder Palestinian children.The BDSers have resurrected all the lieson the Protocols,and Nazi slurs against Jewsthathadbeen going on since the Cdiaspora. israelhasbecome an excuse for antiSemitism.They are reall upsetthatafter three thousand years of Jew beating,that those upstart Jews are fighting back.Thenerveof them!IUnfortunately few purple will read this.

For fans of one our great Western writers, you won't be disappoint ed. For those just discovering this great novelist, you will be blown away. The Earps, Doc Holiday, and the great American West, as you've not seen them before.

Like many readers, I have long been a fan of McMurtry and count his epic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Lonesome Dove, among my favorite novels of all time. So when he releases a new novel set in the American West, I sit up and take notice. Such is the case this week with the release of THE LAST KIND WORDS SALOON, a novel about the last days of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday - an infamous duo if ever there were.

IMPORTANT: Those looking for an epic read along the lines of Lonesome Dove will be disappointed. McMurtry instead chose to pursue realism in his portrait of the most famous of the Earp brothers and his erstwhile, alcoholic friend Holliday. Doing so required sparseness, as indeed there little of note to either man's life, despite the legends that later grew up around them. As McMurtry noted in a recent interview:

"Wyatt didn't do much of anything except drink and pester his wife and run around," he says. "He didn't do anything remarkable his whole life, ever."

And The Last Kind Words Saloon goes to great pains to convey this in it's very brevity. Still, McMurtry can't conceal his trademark wit which usually has a way of showing up in dialog ("I need to travel with someone better educated," Wyatt said. "There are few subjects you can even discuss intelligently.") when you least expect it. While his characters may have acerbic banter, their actions are considerably less humorous. Earp regularly beats his wife, while Holliday fares slightly better if only because he doesn't drag another human being down with him. (“Nine out of ten statements Doc made were nonsense, but it was dangerous to stop listening because the tenth statement might be really smart.”)

The climax of any novel involving Earp and Holliday, of course, is the infamous shoot-out at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Countless books have been written and movies have been filmed on this historic event and McMurtry fans will likely be holding their collective breath waiting to see how the Master handles such an iconic American West moment.

Release your breath.

The entire event takes less than two pages.

And this, I can tell you right now, is going to have fans gathering their own posse for some vigilante reader justice. Before everyone grabs their pitchforks, it's helpful to consider history versus myth. The actual shootout at the OK Corral lasted about 30 seconds. 30 seconds. It's significance has been blown so far out of proportion in the ensuing 140 years that the actual event has been lost to history. McMurtry's brevity is a stark reminder.

My initial reaction upon finishing the book was a terrible uncertainty whether I liked it or not. Upon a month or so reflection (I read an advance copy back in March), I decided that I really *did* like the book. I just had to get over the fact that it wasn't Lonesome Dove. (Get over it....all of us need to get over that.) It's quite well written in it's own manner. If you still have doubts, perhaps try a library check out? That's my route when I'm not sure if I'll feel cheated or not. But I think if you can just drop the Lonesome Dove expectations and go into it with a blank slate, you'll be more pleased.

Colossal disappointment. A chapter or two in and I was sure this was the last book he owed his publisher and he did it one Sunday afternoon while watching a Lash LaRue film festival. Most of the characters were not believable and more importantly...not interesting.
I went 2/3 of the way through hoping it would pick-up. A waste of my time and my money. If this appears harsh it is Mr. McMurtry who set the bar.

couldn't shake the feeling while reading this one that McMurtry scribbled it out on the backs of two envelopes while relaxing with a cold beer in hand! Warmed over McMurtry, re-cycled characters, plotless revision to the OK Corral legend and that of Wyatt Earp and Doc Halliday. If his portrayals of these Western legends is a more accurate one than we're used to, kiss the great legends goodbye and accept a drab reality!

I have read all of Larry McMurtrys books and was SO looking forward to this one when I ordered it several months ago (I thought it was published). After a several month wait, it was finally released and what a disappointment. I kept telling myself "this has to get better, it's Larry McMurtry.It almost seems that he started writing it when he got enough "pre-books". I guess I expected a lot more.

I don't know why this book was written. There are none of the usual insights McMurtry is justifiably famous for. Its as if he started a book and only got part of an outline done, forgot to finish it and it accidentally got published. This may have been one of the worst books I've read recently. Am I missing something? A story for sure!

A shadow of Lonesome Dove or ANY of his other books. Was LM trying out a new style? I almost stopped reading the book halfway through and this has never happened to me while reading one of his books. The story just sort of meandered from point A to point Z without much happening to the characters. It was weird.

I could write a review but it would read like most everyone else's: a supreme disappointment in every regard. I was way over it by page 30. The worst thing is, I'm afraid it's going to taint my love of Lonesome Dove. Mainly I just wanted to add my rating. Glad I got it at the library.

This was a short but fun read written in the Lonesome Dove style. I've been a McMurtry fan for many years and I'm stunned by the large number of negative reviews and comments. The book certainly isn't in the same class as Lonesome Dove, but it was still fun.

It is unusual that I would take the time to review a book as I read everything and anything. I just cannot believe this book was written by the same author that wrote Lonesome Dove. It is poorly written with little thought to a story line. I'm not even sure 151 pages should constitute a book when every other page is the end of a chapter and ends mid-page. I can only assume this was something McMurtry wrote years ago and had buried in a closet for a rainy day when he needed money. It's just pitiful.

I needed some more McMurtry....didn't get it...
For example...the fight at Adobe Walls...SHARPS rifles...not Spencers...such an obvious flub is disappointing. A feller could nitpick this thing all day long. In retrospect, I would have been better of leaving this stinker on the shelf and re-reading my battered copy of Lonesome Dove....Not even close Larry....

This is not McMurtry's best work, but it is still way ahead of the competition. He is always educational, humorous, enlightening, and insightful concerning the nature of man. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction.

A shadow of Lonesome Dove or ANY of his other books. Was LM trying out a new style? I almost stopped reading the book halfway through and this has never happened to me while reading one of his books. The story just sort of meandered from point A to point Z without much happening to the characters. It was weird.

First off, this is my first McMurtry book. Normally westerns are just not my thing, however I have always been interested in Doc Holiday since seeing Val Kilmer play him in "Tombstone". This book is a very quick read as avid readers can easily read it cover to cover in one sitting. If you know nothing about the relationship of Holiday and the Earp brothers, this one is not for you. If you know anywhere from a little to everything about them, you should enjoy this book.

I'm disappointed with this story. Being a follower of the stories and books about the gunfight, this book fails. He invented a version that doesn't follow real reports. It's his book and its Fiction,

Having read all of Mr. McMurtry's books, this is not what I expected from the book's description. I personally found the prose style of print annoying. He has never written a bad book, however, and I will buy it anyway.

The best thing about this book was all the white space on the pages, wide margins, short chapters, unnecessary section splits. The fact that the author of Lonesome Dove should have written this book is a sorry tale indeed.

An entertaining read if you have a little time to kill. Not much substance but a fictionalizing of already known history which is what most of McMurtry's books are. A great writer in this sense. Fun to read, then move on to the next one.

I was able to read this book in an afternoon which is likely the time it took the author to write it. It reads like an afterthought, as if it was written to satisfy an obligation. A most regretful purchase.

Larry McMurtry has chronicled the American West in a fashion unparalleled by any contemporary writer. He first wrote about the modern West in HORSEMAN, PASS BY and then focused on the same era in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. Both of these books would be adapted successfully to the big screen, with the former being released under the title Hud.

McMurtry then turned his attention to the legendary West with LONESOME DOVE, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Never resting on his laurels, he wrote the screenplay for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, a modern cowboy story that impacted America in ways the nation is still confronting. And McMurtry just keeps going and going. Now 77, he has written 32 novels and 14 works of nonfiction. This is in addition to his ownership of one of the largest bookstores on the planet, Booked Up, in Archer City, Texas. Several years ago, he seemed to be concluding his book-writing career with the publication of three introspective memoirs: BOOKS, LITERARY LIFE and HOLLYWOOD.

But the iconic author is not finished quite yet. In THE LAST KIND WORDS SALOON, McMurtry once again returns to poke a few holes in Western myth and legend, this time discussing the life of Wyatt Earp and the myth of an iconic gunfight, the shootout at the O.K. Corral. While romanticized in the minds of many, the gunfight was really nothing more than the end result of a petty dispute between two families.

THE LAST KIND WORDS SALOON is more a novella than an epic saga of the West. It is 58 short chapters spanning a mere 200 pages, covering a brief passage of time and moving briskly from Texas to Denver to Tombstone, Arizona. We learn just enough about the characters --- Wyatt Earp , Doc Holliday and their supporting cast --- to cement McMurtry’s thesis that the romanticized Western tales strongly influencing American thought are simply myths. As recent events in Nevada and other Western states often remind us, the false belief in these nostalgic myths can be harmful.

While the number of pages may be brief, the myth-busting is copious. Most of the cowboys and men portrayed are less than mythical, unless getting drunk is the stuff of legends. When Wyatt and Doc are invited by Buffalo Bill to perform in his Western show, they are unable to reenact any gunfights because they are terrible shots. The one thing that the men of the West can hit is their spouse. Wyatt often strikes his wife, Jesse, in a manner that draws blood, while Doc twice breaks his significant other’s nose. McMurtry has observed in a recent interview that “The Western myth is a heroic myth, and yet settling the West was not heroic. It ended with Custer, it was the end of the settlement narrative, which had been going on since 1620.” As hard as he tries to dispel the myth, McMurtry cannot escape the mythology embraced by most Americans.

Even as he seeks to paint an accurate portrait of the American West, McMurtry is unable to hide a grudging appreciation of that part of America’s culture. He is a traditionalist, as proven by his manual typewriter, newspaper reading and 200,000-volume bookstore. Exposing these traditions for both good and bad is McMurtry’s talent. His contribution to American literature reminds us that legend remains potent in our historical fabric.

Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

Very enjoyable to read with doses of real history to move the plot along and real characters of the period to spice it up. I always like the way he uses the vernacular of the period too. If you enjoy McMurtry's work you'll love it and if you don't know his work then by all means give it a read

If you liked THE LAST PICTURE SHOW and LONESOME DOVE, you will also like this novel....McMurtry takes us out West and immerses us in the time and the place. All totally believable! The language alone makes us believe we are THERE:
sparse as water in a mostly empty canteen, dry as the wind in a desert, economy of words from men who know sparseness in every phrase of life...keeps you reaching for the pistol on your hip...Calvin W. Atwood