Anything for Billy [Hardcover]

Larry McMurtry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1988

Breathtaking tale of excitement, capturing the lore and life of the old West, which tells of Billy the Kid.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anything for Billy is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's affectionate ode to dime novels, Billy the Kid, and the wild, wild West. Benjamin Sippy is a successful but unfulfilled pulp fiction writer who, suffering the throes of midlife crisis, has abruptly fled his stable Philadelphia life, wife and nine daughters in search of the lawless West of his bestselling stories. After a comically abortive attempt at train-robbing, "Mr. Sippy"his name the constant butt of jokeshappens quite by accident upon a cowboy named Joe Lovelady and his sidekick, a kid of 20 named Billy Bone, whose brash unpredictability and one accidental shooting have earned him an undeserved but welcome reputation as a dangerous gunslinger. In the brisk, folksy style of the old-timey dimestore novel, this fictional memoir of Billy the Kid is told through the eyes of a fish-out-of-water Eastern writer who just happened to be along for the ride, saw it all and aims to set the record straight. Barbecue Campbell, Simp Dixon, Katie Garza and all the related characters of Kid lore are here, wonderfully fleshed out and seamlessly blended with McMurtry's own formidable creations. Billy himself is perhaps McMurtry's most vivid inventiona wandering, wide-eyed boy, a one-man gang-who-couldn't-shoot-straight, who kills recklessly and without remorse, mainly to keep pace with his out-of-control reputation. This tale of random violence, unlikely romance and quicksilver friendships in the old West is a rip-roaring gamble with a tear in its eye, and it pays off in spades. Paperback rights to Pocket Books; Literary Guild main selection; major ad/promo.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

McMurtry's Billy the Kid (here called Billy Bone) is superstitious, mercurial, a poor marksman, and yet known as one of the West's deadliest gunmen. It is this reputation that will determine how Billy will live and die. His story is told by Ben Sippy, a Philadelphia blueblood and author of Wild West dimestore novels, who has abandoned his aloof, adulterous wife and nine daughters to try his talent at train robbery in New Mexico. McMurtry spoofs both the reality of the Wild West and the legends it spawned. Less epical than the popular Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove ( LJ 7/1/85), this novel is just as entertaining and peopled with equally beguiling characters. McMurtry drills a bull's eye, proving that he is among the most versatile of our writers.Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 311 pages
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster; Reissue edition (October 15, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671642685
• ISBN-13: 978-0671642686
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #629,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Larry McMurtry is the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove. His other works include two collections of essays, three memoirs, and more than thirty screenplays, including the coauthorship of Brokeback Mountain, for which he received an Academy Award. His most recent novel, When the Light Goes, is available from Simon & Schuster. He lives in Archer City, Texas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Praise for Billy, August 22, 2000

By 

R. Kent Bailey (Tampa, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anything for Billy: A Novel (Paperback)

What a wonderful read! If you are a fan of any of the McMurtry Lonesome Dove series, pick up this book. Although it involves none of the same characters it spins a tale in a similar gritty, adventurous vein. Anything for Billy rivals Lonesome Dove for heart pounding excitement and gut wrenching sorrow.

Meet Billy the Kid,(Or McMurtry's version, anyway) an inexperienced young drifter with a lucky streak a mile wide, an all consuming desire to make a name for himself, and a tragic taste for violence.

Watch the sparks fly when Billy meets Katerina, the beautiful leader of her own band of Mexican outlaws. See Billy tangle with the largest land owner in the west, deadly hired gun men, and vengeful indians, all while he tries to survive his most destructive foe: himself.

Although the book involves a number of colorful characters, Billy is what makes this book so interesting. He is more than just a one dimensional shoot 'em up gunfighter. He's an ambitious kid with his own fears and loves and some very dark problems. He's someone you can root for even if you're not sure why.

Unlike many of McMurtry's other books this one is narrated in first person perspective. The narrator, Sippy, one of Billy's companions, is an east coast, old society gentleman with a penchant for western dime novels. The contrast between the refined narrator and his crude western companions lends a touch of humor to the tale.

Give this book a try. Whether you're a McMurtry western fan or not, this one is hard to put down.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anything for Billy, January 27, 2005

By 

Anjelica Selene - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anything for Billy : A Novel (Paperback)

This book was so wonderful I doubt I can decribe it. It's about Billy the Kid, Benjamen Sippy and Joe Lovelady. Sippy and Joe are Billy's proctectors and companions. My favorite charictor is Katie Garza. Billy was a little rough for me, but, then again, he was a bit diffrent when he died. Billy's death shocked me, and not all deaths do. What shocked me was not that he died, as anyone who has read the book will know, but HOW he died. This is a great book, that no one should pass up.
-A McMurtry Fan

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!!!!, May 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Anything for Billy: A Novel (Paperback)

I'm only 12 years old, and I've already read almost all of Larry McMurtrys stuff. People think I'm a little "underaged" to be reading this stuff. I don't care, I love his books, so oh well (I don't give a damn what they say). I would DEFINATELY recommend this book, becasue it was interesting, but not always proper like the real world.