RHINO RANCH
Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster
Fiction
ISBN: 9781439156391
The sovereign state of Texas was recently in the news when Governor Rick Perry announced that Texans might want to consider invoking a little known provision of statehood and elect to secede from the United States. Down in Archer City, Texas, author Larry McMurtry hopefully had a good chuckle and was inspired to start jotting down some notes for a new series of Lone Star State-themed novels.
McMurtry is the chronicler of all things Texas. In LONESOME DOVE and its literary progeny, he wrote of frontier Texas before it joined the Union. The novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1986 and introduced readers to Texas Rangers Augustus McRae and Woodrow Call. A series of sequels focused on life in the American West before the Civil War.
RHINO RANCH is McMurtry’s final installment in his modern Texas saga. This series began with the publication of THE LAST PICTURE SHOW in 1966, and introduced readers to Thalia, Texas and Duane Moore. In between these bookend novels, McMurtry visited the oil patch town of Thalia and its citizens in TEXASVILLE, DUANE’S DEPRESSED and WHEN THE LIGHT GOES.
Some may be reluctant to pick up a book after being advised that it marks the conclusion of a series. But each of the novels in McMurtry’s series can be read independently. You will learn enough about the characters to enjoy RHINO RANCH. Perhaps as I was, you will be inspired after reading one installment to go back to where it all began. Last week, while visiting a used bookstore, I picked up my own copy of THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. Soon I will start the Moore saga at the beginning.
When readers last encountered Duane Moore, he had overcome the death of his wife and remarried. Unfortunately for Duane, his second marriage has not gone well. With his geologist wife travelling around the world, Duane returns to Thalia and to Moore Drilling, the business he founded that’s now run by his son. Duane’s travels, coupled with his quirkiness, have estranged him from the Thalia community, and he must deal with being a stranger in the only home he has really ever known.
Thalia has now become the home of a sanctuary for African black rhinos. A Texas-sized ranch of 120,000 acres has been constructed by K.K. Slater, a Texas billionairess. K.K. and Duane strike up a somewhat unusual relationship as he and other Thalia denizens attempt to come to grips with the invasion of exotic animals in the midst of a cattle and oil community.
Many of the characters introduced in previous Thalia episodes return in RHINO RANCH. Duane’s pals, Boyd Cotton and Bobby Lee Baxter, serve as security officers on the ranch. They spend a great deal of their time seated in an observation tower following rhinos and reporting fires set by local meth dealers as they cook their product in the Thalia hinterlands. Duane’s family is also an important part of the novel. Son Dickie runs Moore Drilling but seems to have little time for his father, except to attempt to keep him away from the business. Duane’s daughters are living the life of wealthy divorcees in Dallas, returning to Thalia only for family emergencies. The light of Duane’s life is grandson Willy, a Rhodes Scholar, who has no love for Thalia but deep love for his grandfather.
McMurtry’s novels are always topical, and RHINO RANCH is no exception. African rhinos are actually being brought to Texas in an effort to save them from poachers. Duane’s observations on small-town life, life in general, and sadly on growing old and death are poignant, humorous and touching. In a recent interview McMurtry suggested that his writing days may be coming to an end. If so, we will miss not only his novels but also Duane Moore himself. In his fictional lifetime he taught us much about life and living. We are better people for having the opportunity to meet him on the pages of McMurtry’s books.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
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