Larry McMurtry mentions in his brief introduction to The Last Kind Words Saloon, “I had the great director John Ford in mind when I wrote this book; he famously said that when you had to choose between history and legend, print the legend. And so I’ve done.” But the reader will quickly realize that McMurtry’s version of the legend is unlike any other that has been printed over the last 130 plus years.
In the first two pages of The Last Kind Words Saloon, Wyatt Earp, customarily regarded with nerves of steel, turns pale when Doc Holliday says being a dentist is easy: “All you need is a pair of pliers and maybe a chisel for difficult cases.” McMurtry adds that Wyatt “Had always been squeamish.”
The rest of my article can be found at Macmillan's Criminal Element.
McMurtry's got so much out there it would take me years to catch up. Posts like this help a lot. Great overview!
ReplyDeleteI'm there for you, Rich! On the front lines.
ReplyDeleteBook is in my TBR pile after I spotted in on the new fiction table at the library the other day.
ReplyDeleteConsider me--rear guard. Large and slow moving.
didn't know this featured earp and doc. Gonna get it.
ReplyDeleteSheesh! Another hero or two shot to Hell with words. I've enjoyed what I've read of McMurtry, but he puts 'em out so fast I can't keep up.
ReplyDeletePliers and a chisel. That's class.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.