Helpful Score: 1
Not as good as lonesome Dove but still a fine western novel.
Helpful Score: 1
Though not McMurty's best, Anything for Billy is a love letter to the old West, particularly the dime novel. The quirky characters alone make it worth the read.
Folksy and much like Louis L'Amour's writing. A grand tale that runs from Philadelphia to the old west and cowboy trails of the desert. Amazingly visual, deeply affecting and full of action. Loved it!
Another great McMurtry tale!
A major disappointment. McMurtry's novel, loosely based on the life of Billy the Kid, is disjointed and utterly without any reason for emotional investment by the reader. It doesn't help that the title character is presented as an ignorant, superstitious, cowardly little blowhard, which makes the narrator's promised devotion to him (I didn't get that far) totally unbelievable.
This is the wild, hot-blooded adventures of Billy the Kid, the American west's most legendary outlaw. This author takes you on a hell-for-leather journey with Billy and his friends as they ride, drink, love, fight, shoot and escape their way into the shining memories of western myth.
From the Publisher
The first time I saw Billy he came walking out of a cloud....Welcome to the wild, hot-blooded adventures of Billy the Kid, the American West's most legendary outlaw. Larry McMurtry takes us on a hell-for-leather journey with Billy and his friends as they ride, drink, love, fight, shoot, and escape their way into the shining memories of Western myth. Surrounded by a splendid cast of characters that only Larry McMurtry could create, Billy charges headlong toward his fate, to become in death the unforgettable desperado he aspires to be in life. Not since Lonesome Dove has there been such a rich, exciting novel about the cowboys, Indians, and gunmen who live at the blazing heart of the American dream.
Library Journal
McMurtry's Billy the Kid (here called Billy Bone) is superstitious, mercurial, a poor marksman, and yet known as one of the West's deadliest gunmen. It is this reputation that will determine how Billy will live and die. His story is told by Ben Sippy, a Philadelphia blueblood and author of Wild West dimestore novels, who has abandoned his aloof, adulterous wife and nine daughters to try his talent at train robbery in New Mexico. McMurtry spoofs both the reality of the Wild West and the legends it spawned.
The first time I saw Billy he came walking out of a cloud....Welcome to the wild, hot-blooded adventures of Billy the Kid, the American West's most legendary outlaw. Larry McMurtry takes us on a hell-for-leather journey with Billy and his friends as they ride, drink, love, fight, shoot, and escape their way into the shining memories of Western myth. Surrounded by a splendid cast of characters that only Larry McMurtry could create, Billy charges headlong toward his fate, to become in death the unforgettable desperado he aspires to be in life. Not since Lonesome Dove has there been such a rich, exciting novel about the cowboys, Indians, and gunmen who live at the blazing heart of the American dream.
Library Journal
McMurtry's Billy the Kid (here called Billy Bone) is superstitious, mercurial, a poor marksman, and yet known as one of the West's deadliest gunmen. It is this reputation that will determine how Billy will live and die. His story is told by Ben Sippy, a Philadelphia blueblood and author of Wild West dimestore novels, who has abandoned his aloof, adulterous wife and nine daughters to try his talent at train robbery in New Mexico. McMurtry spoofs both the reality of the Wild West and the legends it spawned.
Demented kabuki dance of historical b.s.
Why a good writer like McMurtry put out books like this is a mystery to me. If anything like historical accuracy is important to you in your fiction, avoid this book at all costs.
Why a good writer like McMurtry put out books like this is a mystery to me. If anything like historical accuracy is important to you in your fiction, avoid this book at all costs.
interesting. I liked the narrator more than I liked Billy. I've traveled throughout the southwest and I enjoyed the descriptions of the locations. Good enough to stay up late reading
Not my cup of tea
The first time I saw Billy he came walking out of a cloud....Welcome to the wild, hot-blooded adventures of Billy the Kid, the American West's most legendary outlaw. Larry McMurtry takes us on a hell-for-leather journey with Billy and his friends as they ride, drink, love, fight, shoot, and escape their way into the shining memories of Western myth. Surrounded by a splendid cast of characters that only Larry McMurtry could create, Billy charges headlong toward his fate, to become in death the unforgettable desperado he aspires to be in life. Not since Lonesome Dove has there been such a rich, exciting novel about the cowboys, Indians, and gunmen who live at the blazing heart of the American dream.
I don't know why this says this is a "board book" but it is a hardback, with the dust jacket on it...I put the ISBN number in exactly as it is.
