In Tracy Daugherty’s riveting biography — “Larry McMurtry — A Life” — he cites McMurtry’s philosophy of writing. One example, in a letter to his friend, Ken Kesey, McMurtry said, “For me the novel is character creation. Style is nice, plot is nice, structure is okay, social significance is okay, symbolism worms its way in, timeliness is okay too, but unless the characters convince and live the book’s got no chance.”
At a posh Georgetown party, he overheard a famous Washington, D. C. hostess say, “Good God … I’d rather fuck him than read him.”
Another observation, “I consider it a process of discovery, writing a novel. But I always start with the ending,” he said. “I get tremendous surprises.”
In 1986, McMurtry was invited to speak at a small college in Uvalde, Texas. Yes, that Uvalde. He was staying at the Holiday Inn, where their marque read, “Welcome to Larry Mcmurty, Author of “Terms of Endearment.”
During a lunch break on campus, he learned he’d just been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “Lonesome Dove.” The next day he was told that the hotel had upgraded their marque — “Catfish Special, $3.99.”
Paige