Book Review: Books by Larry McMurtry

About:

Books by Larry McMurtry is a non-fiction memoir of the author’s time as an antiquarian book seller.  Mr. McMurtry is an American novelist, who is known for writing about the Old West such as Lonesome Dove.

• 272 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781416583349

My rating for Books – 3
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Thoughts:

I always enjoy reading books about books, add to the fact that antiquarian books hold somewhat of a fascination to me reading  Books by Larry McMurtry  was a no-brainer.  I think many people appreciate old books, but to open up an antiquarian is a whole different story, which also peaked my interest even though I would most likely never venture in that direction.

The book started off in a very interesting way, the author talks about his relationship to books in the years where he owned a store and kept scouting for books. The way the antiquarian book business runs, and the pure luck sometimes involved in finding rare books, or buying books and keeping them until they become rare, is a fascinating glimpse into a tough business model (I imagine).

I really enjoyed the parts where Mr. McMurtry talked about his love for books, eclectic customers, unique acquisitions, special sales he’d made, and love of bookstores around the country. Once the author veers off the topics of books and talks about the business aspect. The book, however, was disjointed, almost as if the author dictated it and then published the dictation. There is no timeline that I could easily discern, some chapters are barely a paragraph as if it’s a thought the author just wanted to air out.

Besides the captivating world of book dealing, there isn’t much else to this book. It’s not a biography, but a very specific memoir on a very specific subject.

Buy Books from Amazon.com*
More Books by Larry McMurtry*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I borrowed this book from the local library.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on books