Boone's Lick is a novel by American author Larry McMurtry, first published by Simon & Schuster in 2001. The novel follows a family that travels from Missouri to Wyoming. It includes a depiction of the Fetterman Massacre and an appearance by Wild Bill Hickok.

Reception

In January Magazine, J. Kingston Pierce wrote: "What is remarkable, however, is how little interest McMurtry manages to drum up over so many fictionalized miles."[1]

Publisher's Weekly said "More an amusing fable of family strife than a serious story with memorable characters, this piece does not approach the substance or quality of McMurtry's better works, but his ardent fans will undoubtedly appreciate the warmth, compassion and humor that the narrative exudes."[2]

Mark Busby of the Austin Chronicle reviewed the novel positively, writing: "For the thousands of readers who have read his fiction over the years, even a slighter work like Boone's Lick offers riches."[3]

Entertainment Weekly said "Though ”Boone’s Lick” lacks the proportions its epic setting suggests, at least there's fine poetry on the human scale."[4]

In a review for The New York Times, Karen Karbo wrote that the novel "reads at times like a movie treatment: the author provides the setup, leaving it to the movie people (or the imaginative reader) to fully inhabit this world, supplying the necessary nuance, texture and subtlety. Still, to McMurtry's fans, the act of following the narrative meanderings of Boone's Lick will be like slipping on a comfortable old sweatshirt."[5]

References

  1. ^ Kingston Pierce, J. (January 2001). "Saddle Sore: Review | Boone's Lick by Larry McMurtry". January Magazine.
  2. ^ Review of novel at Publishers Weekly
  3. ^ Busby, Mark (2000-12-29). "Book Review: Readings". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  4. ^ Patterson, Troy (2000-11-22). "Boone's Lick". EW.com. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  5. ^ Karbo, Karen (2000-11-26). "Romance Hits the Trail". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
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