Customer Reviews

Cadillac Jack

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the first McMurtry novel that I read.I like earthy stories;and boy was this a dandy.If you enjoy novels like Cannery Row,Tobacco Road or anything by Kinky Friedman you should like Cadallic Jack.I enjoyed it so much,I started reading the rest of McMurtrys novels.So far, I found it the most humorous,entertaining and lighthearted of the ones I've read.He has written the episodes so well you feel you are travelling right along with him and loving every moment of it.
I assume a lot of these stories are fictional ,in whole or in part,but are probably based on some of the authors experiences.
What I have come to like about McMurtry's books is that they are all so different from one another;and I think this one is the most different.
If there is any truth about this character,there should a law against it;nobody should be allowed to have that much fun--not one person.

A wonderful character study, a period piece first published back in 1982, filled with wit and satire and mighty fine writing. Best book/antique scout book I've read since John Dunning's BOOKED TO DIE. It also reminds me of Paul Theroux's more recent HOTEL HONOLULU in tone, and as in that funny novel, some of the chapters here could stand alone as short stories.

I picture Cadillac Jack as looking like Kinky Friedman or Richard Boone, narrating the story in a Texas accent, boots propped up on the liar's bench, eyes arcing under the cowboy hat in a bet-you-can't-top-this-one slant.

What a pleasant surprise! An amazing character. An amazing yarn.

These are the words of our classic Anton Chekhov. Does McMartry advertise Cadillac Jack as another Terms of Endearment? Why it's wrong to be entertained and ask yourself - So what?- when the book is finished? The book is funny,unpretentious and concise. I made myself finish Moving On, dropped all these prequels & sequels to Lonesome Dove and Terms of Endearment halfway through, gasping at McMurtry's productivity, enjoyed his Pulitzer Prize winner and the book the Oscar winner is based on. But it's the books like Cadillac Jack and Anything For Billy that gave me a few precious hours of enjoyment and relaxation. They are well above the mass market fare but they do not plan to enter the Booker's shortlist, perfectly satisfied with being what they are.

I am an antiques dealer, and there are so few books written about the peculiar characters in the antiques business. Here is the best one. Highly recommended if you are part of the antiques world.

As I continue my goal to read every book by Larry McMurtry, I become more intrigued by his creativity, knowledge, and ability to pull the reader into the world he designs. Cadillac Jack is no exception as we find ourselves following the adventures and emotions of antique scout Jack McGriff, a man with an eye for valuable antiques and a man with an eye for women. As he roams the country scouting for that "unique" item that he must own and subsequently trade, his adventures take him to parties, estates, quirky people, and free-spirited women.

One of McMurtry's favorite literary concepts is the journey, traveling through the country experiencing life in all its glory and challenges. Cadillac Jack demonstrates this journey by going to New Mexico in search of a particular pair of boots where he encounters various personalities, value systems, wealthy people, and oddities. He returns to Washington, making several great deals, and alternating his time between friends, women, and acquaintances.

His adventures are full of the wit and gritty humor we often find in McMurtry's writing as he paints a picture of a wide variety of personalities that surround us. From the nest collector to the obsessed antique collector, we encounter people searching for their place in this world. Jack's confusion over women and his own quest for entertainment and security lands him in several relationships, none of which have any lasting value, much to his concern.

This was a fun book with an educational benefit. Learning about the antique world, including auctions, rumors, and unpredictable behaviors, demonstrates once again McMurtry's ability to capture emotions of the moment that result from particular events. If you are searching for an entertaining book about trading antiques, this is the one for you. Be warned, however, that the basic plot is a little weak and it is hard to discern the overall direction of the story. Jack himself seems a little disconnected to the people and the events. After reading the entire book, I am still not sure I know Jack very well. Yet, maybe Jack does not know himself very well and is satisfied with that lack of knowledge!

A great book - funny, insightful, a Texas cowboy/connoisseur's adventures in America and the world of women.

With the exception of reviews of both the book and movie versions of The Last Picture Show in this space the usual reference I make to Larry McMurtry concerns his thoughtful reviews of the history of the Old West in the New York Review of Books (most recently on General Custer, March 6, 2008). Despite that merely nodding acquaintance I know three things about Mr. McMurtry from those articles. McMurtry loves books, I mean he really loves them. I understand that he is the consummate bookseller/pack rat. He loves, as mentioned above, the Old West; a place where he grew up (deep in the heart of Texas) and from the themes of his books formed a huge imprint on his character. And he loves to talk about swap meets and the vagaries of pack ratdom. That last point is important here because this seemingly bedraggled, scorned and misunderstood profession is central to the story that he tells here.

The plot line is pretty straightforward. Cadillac Jack is an ex-professional cowboy turned (to be kind) second-hand entrepreneur riding far and wide throughout the country in search of El Dorado- that elusive million-dollar treasure to be found at a flea market stall. At least that is his cover for this story. But we know from McMurtry's coming of age book The Last Picture Show that this is really about a man in search of himself and where he stands in the world. Especially with women. In other words the real eternal quest.

The major action of the story is centered in the secondary power lanes of Washington, D.C. Now we all know what one can expect will happen to an old cowboy when he gets messed up with that crowd. They make bull riding or auction cruising seem like a day in the park. But, Cadillac could handle that all and have time for lunch if he could solve what ails him and that is the above-mentioned woman question (surprise, surprise) although he seems to have had more than his fair share of interesting experiences with them. What ties the whole story together, as in my limited experience with McMurtry's s work he seems always able to do, are the doings (and undoings) of a strong secondary set of characters (some displaced Texans, some not) who are either buying or selling something, not always legally. Needless to say I need to investigate Mr. McMurtry's work further. But, dear reader, this is not a bad place to start.

McMurtry scholars have dubbed this part of the author's "Trash Trilogy," and if you're expecting Lonesome Dove or Terms of Endearment you may agree. This is McMurtry's sidelong, amused and also slightly amazed look at the foibles of Washington, D.C. There's not a lot going on here, but McMurtry spins a good yarn nonetheless. You won't be uplifted or probably even very impressed, but you will be entertained.

Surprisingly, master storyteller Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment) has written a book with virtually no plot. Cadillac Jack describes a month or so in the life of an antiques dealer on the road. In Jack's world, all people are eccentrics with funny names like Pencil Penrose and Sir Cripps Crisp, and all women he finds attractive are willing to sleep with him at the drop of a hat. Set in the pre-AIDS era, the book reflects a cavalier attitude about sexual responsibility that may appall late 1990's sensibilities. Nevertheless, Cadillac Jack is amusingly written, especially when it describes the bizarre and wonderful antiques that are the real objects of Jack's passion. Not bad, but compared to McMurtry's epic works, Cadillac Jack has a flat tire.

I couldn't put this book down...until the last couple of chapters when I felt cheated out of a real end or conclusion or...anything. I needed closure. I laughed out loud at McMurtry's descriptions and characterization. I could see each object the main character sought to own, whether it be a salt shaker or a woman, but I just couldn't see the end of the tale and was bitterly let down.