I was inspired to read this novel by a social media post of Peter Sagal, host of NPR's news quiz show. Sagal said he had detected some disapproval from a friend when the friend found out Sagal hadn't ever read the book. So he read it. As did I.
In this epic Old West tale set in the late 1800s, WF Call and Augustus McCrae decide to amass cattle and cowboys and horses and bring them from Lonesome Dove, their small border town, up to Montana, which is said to be wild, but which will situate them in the cattle business in that territory before others get there. The two men are longtime comrades, together in the Texas Rangers for a long time, with stellar reputations, but very different personalities.
The characterizations are golden, from the non-stop talker Gus and his more reticent partner Call, and to so many others. The story interweaves people from Texas to Arkansas to Nebraska and beyond. It's not just "Cowboys and Indians" kind of stereotypes, but much more nuanced. McMurtry integrates the reader into another world filled with adventure, hardship, kidnapping, and caring.
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