Books: A Memoir

Larry McMurtry's book is an unpolished gem which could have benefitted from both better editing and more material. He characterizes his life as a secondhand bookseller with brief descriptions of other booksellers and books he has encountered in his half century in the business. Many of his characterizations are so brief that they come across as name dropping, understandable only to his fellow "bookmen." This choppy treatment will disappoint readers who have learned to expect thoughtful characterization from Mr. McMurtry's novels, such as  Lonesome Dove  and  The Last Picture Show .McMurtry is conscious of the danger that his book might turn into "...a narrative that is of interest only to bookmen. The model for such books is  The Compleat Angler : oh look, I caught a First Folio today." (p. 44). He does not entirely evade this problem. His editor should have helped him more.That said, this book is worth reading for McMurtry fans and those interested in learning to "scout" and sell used books. We learn about the author's bookless childhood and sudden exposure to books by a relative. And we see his early book scouting in abandoned farmhouses and rummage sales. Readers get a sense of McMurtry's growing fascination with books and how this connects to his writing and the other events of his life. We also better understand the title character in  Cadillac Jack , the author's semi-autobiographical novel about the second-hand antique business.This book turns rare books themselves into characters, some of whom are described more compellingly than the author's fellow bookmen. These books have distinctive marks, printing errors--and sometimes shadowy histories of ownership. Many seem to merely visit each owner for a few years, returning to the bookshop to rest for decades among their fellows. McMurtry describes his relationships with these books, with the collections they are assembled into, and with his library as a whole. "I think sometimes that I'm angry with my library because I know that I can't reread it all. It is this, I think, that produces the slight sense of alienation that I feel when I'm together with my books now. They need to find other readers soon..." (p. 167). His books lead longer and slower-paced lives, which most of us lack the patience to understand.McMurtry helpfully points readers to other books that tell us useful things about bookselling and bookshops. The reference and literary education books include Arnold Bennett's  Literary Taste: How to Form It  and Andrew Lang's  The Library . The novels he recommends include Raymond Chandler's  The Big Sleep , Arnold Bennett's  Riceyman Steps , and Christopher Morley's  The Haunted Bookshop . They may satisfy readers whose appetites have been whetted for bookish fiction. Those who want more of a how-to treatment of book scouting can learn a modern approach from Ian Ellis's  Book Finds: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books .

This isn't a book about which books have influenced a great and prolific writer. This is primarily about McMurtry "the bookman." It's about the book selling business--how he got into it, his various interests and the people he met along the way (mostly dead and gone), and the dying bookstores he helped save or bought out. Honestly, it's fairly dull. It's more about how and where he bought books, not necessarily for personal interest but to buy, sell, or trade. It's light on biography. It's more like this: "When I was at Stanford on a Stegner Fellowship I met Person X, we became friends, and we went to the East Bay to scout books. But I really craved sunshine in preference to SF fog, so I stayed south on the Peninsula where it was sunnier (San Carlos, San Mateo, etc) and went to bookstore Y that's no longer in business because the second-hand book business sucks and hardly anyone buys truly good books because they're imbeciles." The last part is implied. His message is that the book business has its ups and downs (mainly downs) and it's hard work, allowing a pittance for one's efforts and labor of love. I mean, I get it but how does that appeal to a reader who's passionate about books (as he is), yet isn't so passionate about the behind-the-scenes actions / interests of book collectors and traders? I get it as well: Yes, Amazon sucks. But here we are. Also, McMurtry bemoans how libraries have been taken over by computers--people want information and not books per se. More libraries are filled with computers than books and old card catalogues. As someone who's nostalgic, I sympathize with that sentiment. I agree. My city library is depressing as hell because of the computers. Most of them feature games that kids can play. Basically, my local library has become a Chuck E. Cheese for little kids--a cyber romper room. It's sad. But the bit about libraries is only one chapter out of many that don't save this book from being a snooze fest...

I loved Lonesome Dove so much I was hoping I’d love this . . . Nope! I stuck with it because it helped me with my book challenge. This book is not about the love of books as I’d hoped it would be, but rather it was a litany of facts often without structure about McMurtry’s years as a bookseller.The one cool thing it did inspire me to google book shops and I went to one called Second Story books just outside of DC. Later that day I was finishing this tedious work and in a concluding list of secondhand bookstores that McMurtry bought thousands of books, from all over the country, Second Story books. And I will say the book was worth just that inspiration because I bought 8 books there for $22 and I will return.

Perfect

Good