Lonesome Dove: A Bit About the Western Genre and Larry McMurtry

Plus the reading schedule.

“Gus and Woodrow” by Dave Powell

Welcome, Readers! 

The first time I read Lonesome Dove, it immediately entered rare company as one of my favorite reading experiences of all-time. Cowboys and cattle drivers Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call are among the most memorable characters you’ll ever read, guaranteed. 

This week I’m giving ya’ll some introductory material as well as the reading plan, which takes us all the way through March. I’ve broken it down by week rather than by day, since McMurtry variates between short and long chapters. We’re looking at 70-80 pages per week from now through March 25, which is when I’ll send final Lonesome Dove recap. (From there, we’ll take 1-2 weeks off before getting into Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.)

Here’s a link to the Google spreadsheet of the reading plan.

And here it is in image form:

Remember, the reading plan is just a general guide. If you’re faster or slower, it’s not a problem, just know that my weekly recaps (sent out on Saturday mornings) will follow that plan. 

Let’s jump in! 

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The Western genre is not often taken very seriously by the literary establishment. In the 1980s, this was especially the case. Cheap and (often) formulaic novels from the likes of Louis L’Amour, Max Brand, and Elmore Leonard were great commercial successes, but rarely caught the eye of serious critics.  

That changed with Larry McMurtry’s 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Lonesome Dove. 

Epic in scope and setting, Lonesome Dove almost instantly became the Western novel that everyone was talking about. Unlike earlier Westerns, it captured a broad audience rather than just old grandpas sitting on their porch. 

There was something that set the novel apart in a stale genre. I have some ideas, but that’ll be a great thing to discuss as a group, so I’ll save my own thoughts for now.   

I. What is a Western, anyways?

Though the period of the American cowboy lasted from roughly 1865 to 1895, the pop culture odes to this semi-mythical figure began taking shape in the early 1900s. The earliest books of the genre captured a nostalgia and romantic yearning for an era and way of life that was on its way out.

Simply being set in the West is not enough to make it a Western novel (though that’s certainly part of it). There are a few defining elements that all great Westerns share and which Lonesome Dove embodies in spades.