Books: A Memoir

Books: A Memoir
by Larry McMurtry

List Price: ~~$24.00~~
Our Price: $14.90
You Save: $9.10 (38%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $14.39 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Compare Prices for Books: A Memoir

Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Larry McMurtry
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2008-07-08
ISBN: 1416583343
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Book Reviews of Books: A Memoir

Book Review: Good but somewhat unsatisfying
Summary: 3 Stars

I love almost all of McMurtry's work as well as books about books, so I was eagerly anticipating loving this book. It was a smooth and somewhat entertaining read, but I have to admit feeling a little let down.

It is not a memoir in almost any sense of the word, but more of a collection of war stories about the buying and selling of books. There was some autobiographical material in the book, but not enough to satisfy me. The book seemed to peter out near the end and ended a little abruptly for me. The final chapter almost seemed like an after-thought.

Still, McMurtry is an accomplished author and I'd probably read his grocery list if he published it. It was an enjoyable read that left me vaguely dissatisfied.

Write your own review

All Books: A Memoir Customer Reviews

Summary of Books: A Memoir

Amazon Best of the Month, July 2008: It wasn't enough for Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry to become one of the most prolific, bestselling, and beloved of American writers. Besides writing nearly forty books, including the Pultizer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove, he has emerged as one this nation's greatest bookmen. In Books: A Memoir, McMurtry shares with readers his lifelong passion and dogged pursuit of books. In short, gem-like chapters, he paints a fascinating picture of the landscape of American book culture and book selling over a 50-year period. The story is as dusty, musty and crusty as any of McMurtry's fictionalized Westerns, and filled with characters who seem like they stepped out of central casting. Whether you love McMurtry, books, bookstores or a combination thereof, you'll find something to love in Books: A Memoir. Settle in with a cuppa coffee and let McMurtry kindle your passion for physical books. --Lauren Nemroff

In a prolific life of singular literary achievement, Larry McMurtry has succeeded in a variety of genres: in coming-of-age novels like The Last Picture Show; in collections of essays like In a Narrow Grave; and in the reinvention of the Western on a grand scale in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Lonesome Dove. Now, in Books: A Memoir, McMurtry writes about his endless passion for books: as a boy growing up in a largely "bookless" world; as a young man devouring the vastness of literature with astonishing energy; as a fledgling writer and family man; and above all, as one of America's most prominent bookmen. He takes us on his journey to becoming an astute, adventurous book scout and collector who would eventually open stores of rare and collectible editions in Georgetown, Houston, and finally, in his previously "bookless" hometown of Archer City, Texas.

In this work of extraordinary charm, grace, and good humor, McMurtry recounts his life as both a reader and a writer, how the countless books he has read worked to form his literary tastes, while giving us a lively look at the eccentrics who collect, sell, or simply lust after rare volumes. Books: A Memoir is like the best kind of diary -- full of McMurtry's wonderful anecdotes, amazing characters, engaging gossip, and shrewd observations about authors, book people, literature, and the author himself. At once chatty, revealing, and deeply satisfying, Books is, like McMurtry, erudite, life loving, and filled with excellent stories. It is a book to be savored and enjoyed again and again.

Authors Books

Book Subjects

Most talked about in Authors Books

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
by Bill Bryson
Broadway; Published: 2007-09-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
Bantam; Published: 1983-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.72
Price in other shops: ~~$6.99~~

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
by Dave Eggers
Vintage; Published: 2001-02-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.15
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
by Hunter S. Thompson
Vintage; Published: 1998-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops: ~~$13.95~~

On Writing
by Stephen King
Pocket; Published: 2002-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.83
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Books: A Memoir
by Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-07-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.40
Price in other shops: ~~$24.00~~

A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
by Augusten Burroughs
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-04-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.75
Price in other shops: ~~$24.95~~

The Glass Castle: A Memoir
by Jeannette Walls
Scribner; Published: 2006-01-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.47
Price in other shops: ~~$15.00~~

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)
by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.40
Price in other shops: ~~$15.00~~

Similar Books and other products

Emmylou Harris - All I Intended to Be
Release date: 2008-06-10; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: ~~$18.98~~

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives
by Leonard Mlodinow
Pantheon; Published: 2008-05-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.49
Price in other shops: ~~$24.95~~

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation
by Sheila Weller
Atria; Published: 2008-04-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.09
Price in other shops: ~~$27.95~~

The Spies of Warsaw: A Novel
by Alan Furst
Random House; Published: 2008-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.55
Price in other shops: ~~$25.00~~

Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History
by Ted Sorensen
Harper; Published: 2008-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.47
Price in other shops: ~~$27.95~~

Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen : Reflections on Sixty and Beyond
by Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2001-08-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.65
Price in other shops: ~~$12.00~~

Swan Peak: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
by James Lee Burke
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-07-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.97
Price in other shops: ~~$25.95~~

When the Light Goes: A Novel
by Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2007-03-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: ~~$24.00~~

The Library at Night
by Alberto Manguel
Yale University Press; Published: 2008-04-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.08
Price in other shops: ~~$27.50~~

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel
by David Wroblewski
Ecco; Published: 2008-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.89
Price in other shops: ~~$25.95~~