McMurtry is good at writing set pieces, and so he should be, since he has written more than thirty screenplays, and he is very good at writing conversations that smack of being very close to the bone. They start with an action statement – so-and-so does, thinks or says X, and ends with a short declamatory type of sentence – “I hope you understand that.” “Finally he went so sleep – and, when morning came, woke up.” “By God, you’re right, Bobby said.” “Hondo then hung up.” Got the idea? Yet, each short chapter is meaningful and able to stand alone as a perfect little scene – with a beginning, middle and end. He writes like one would think real people speak – abbreviated, choppy, interspersed with asides and the occasional swearword. The characters’ words are few and their thoughts are brief – because of how they are but also because this is a feature of McMurtry’s writing. His paragraphs are short but pivotal, always moving the story along. His sentences are short, succinct, spare, perfectly expressed. And like the state, by reputation, and the cowboys and oilmen about whom he writes, it is dry and a bit caustic. Larry McMurtry knows how to write, that’s for sure. His writing style is perfectly suited to the settings of many of his novels, which is Texas: strong, no-nonsense and to the point. Rhino Ranch, by Larry McMurtry (the fourth and final part of the Duane Moore series, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2009)
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