Sacagawea's Nickname: Essays on the American West [Hardcover]

Larry McMurtry (Author), L. McMurtry (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lewis & Clark Expedition | Publication Date: November 9, 2001

For nearly 40 years, Larry McMurtry's novels and essays have vividly portrayed the American West, exploring life on the frontier, in small western towns, and in increasingly urban stretches of what was once open country. In these 11 essays, all originally published in The New York Review of Books, Larry McMurtry brings his unique narrative gift and dry humor to a variety of western topics. The author explores James Wilson's history of Native Americans; the writers Zane Grey and Janet Lewis; the expedition of Lewis and Clark; and the myths and reality surrounding the larger-than-life figures of Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The literature and the reality of the American West collide in these 12 brilliant and wide-ranging essays, originally published in the New York Review of Books. Pulitzer winner and bestselling novelist McMurtry (Lonesome Dove; etc.) rhapsodizes over an impressively eclectic array of subjects and styles, from his poetic-historical meditation on the Missouri River to his determined but sympathetic deconstruction of Western mythology. Two of the best essays focus on the Lewis and Clark expedition; after reading the pioneering duo's newly published journals, McMurtry pronounces their adventure "the first American epic." Two other essays directly confront the almost uniformly tragic experience of Native Americans in the West; in "Zuni Tunes," McMurtry devastatingly critiques the impact that anthropologists "bloodsucking leeches" have had on the famously unique Arizona tribe. Perhaps the most amusing piece is "Pulpmaster," a bemused ode to western pulp novelists like Zane Grey, whose prodigious output McMurtry ascribes to a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder: "The sufferers can't really write well, but they can't stop writing, either." Each of these essays is sharp, intelligent, sincere and winkingly funny in other words, vintage McMurtry. With penetrating wit he notes that Custer's death was "his most glorious career move." For fascinating characters, there is We'wha, the male Zuni transvestite who met President Grover Cleveland in 1885 and became the "hit of the social season." Not every piece succeeds perfectly, of course: McMurtry's musings on water use in the West are (unsurprisingly) somewhat dry, while his loving, elegiac essay about the forgotten writer Janet Lewis feels like an orphan from another book. Overall, however, this collection is a fine performance from a man who, excepting perhaps Cormac McCarthy, is our most talented and important chronicler of the West.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The well-known author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove and other popular novels, McMurtry has also written numerous essays and reviews. Film Flam: Essays on Hollywood, a collection of his pieces on scriptwriting and other aspects of Tinseltown, was well received. This new collection focuses on the literature and writers of the American West and on the West itself, considering topics such as popular entertainers (e.g., Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley), fiction writers (e.g., Zane Grey), and historians (e.g., Angie Debo). McMurtry is extremely knowledgeable about the subjects he covers, and his writing is witty and incisive. The essays were all originally published in the New York Review of Books. Recommended for any academic or larger public library collection interested in the history and literature of the West and especially for libraries where McMurtry's novels are popular. Charlie Cowling, Drake Memorial Lib., SUNY at Brockport
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: New York Review of Books; First Edition edition (November 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940322927
• ISBN-13: 978-0940322929
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967,414 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

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Novelist, Bookseller, Essayist, December 8, 2001

By 

John Knight "JK" (Davis, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sacagawea's Nickname: Essays on the American West (Hardcover)

We all know Larry McMurtry best as fine, and successful, novelist whose work revolves around and in the American West. Perhaps he no longer has the stamina or time for fiction as he seems to have turned more and more to the essay form. "Sacagawea's Nickname" is a collection of twelve essays originally published in the most non-Western The New York Review of Books. The irony of their original appearance aside, these are simply wonderful essays. In one essay McMurty declares "The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" (available in a newly published edition) to be the American Epic. In a companion piece he speculates about the expedition's guide Sacagewea's place in the company, wonders about her relationship with William Clark and laughs at her bumbling husband Charbonneau. In another essay he heaps scorn upon the pulp Western writers Zane Grey and Max Brand, while in another he waxes ecstatically upon a dinner with writer and poetess Janet Lewis. Whether writing about Western water issues and John Wesley Powell or about the professional anthropologists who tried to make their name off the Zuni tribe, McMurtry is always fascinating, provocative and highly readable. He, himself, is a Western treasure.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great And Dull At The Same Time, January 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sacagawea's Nickname: Essays on the American West (Hardcover)

Sacagawea's Nickname purports to be McMurtry's essays on the Old West. Well, yes and no. Maybe half the book is that and it's really good! McMurtry is extremely insightful on this theme. His views on Bill Cody as a businessman, Annie Oakley as America's original liberated woman,Lewis and Clark, western pulp fiction, the Missouri River, Oh and Sacagawea and her various names...all great stuff.But the other half is the author commenting on other author's comments on the West. Dull.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars perceptive and entertaining, a little academic..., January 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sacagawea's Nickname: Essays on the American West (Hardcover)

If you are familiar with many of the topics discussed in this collection, you will likely find this to be well worth your time. Anyone who has delved into western lit is undoubtably familiar with LM's inimitable style. It is readily apparent here, as is his incredible breadth of literary and historical knowledge. However, if you haven't read much of Stegner and Limerick (to name just a couple of writers LM explores),or you don't know a lot about Lewis and Clark, this may not be the place to start. As these pieces were originally written for the NYRev, the level of background needed to fully appreciate these essays is high. All in all, a thoughtful, funny and wideranging collection worth having on your bookshelf. One final note: I wish the introductory piece on western lit was longer; good as it was, it left me wanting to hear more.