Streets of Laredo [Paperback]

Larry McMurtry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 1999

In the long-awaited sequel to Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry spins an exhilarating tale of legend and heroism. Captain Woodrow Call, Augustus McCrae's old partner, is now a bounty hunter hired to track down a brutal, young Mexican bandit. Riding with Call are an Eastern city slicker, a witless deputy, and one of the last members of the Hat Creek outfit, Pea Eye Parker, now married to Lorena -- once Gus McCrae's sweetheart. Their long chase leads them across the last wild stretches of the West into a hellhole known as Crow Town, and finally, into the vast, relentless plains of the Texas frontier.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Those who have been waiting, through several comparatively disappointing novels, for an appropriate sequel to the memorable and Pulitzer-winning Lonesome Dove can take heart. Streets of Laredo continues that epic of the waning years of the Texas Rangers with all the narrative drive and elegiac passion of its forerunner. Captain Woodrow Call, Gus Macrae's old partner from Lonesome Dove , is long in the tooth but still a legendary hunter of outlaws when he is called upon by the head of one of the railroads now crisscrossing frontier territory to bring to book a young Mexican train robber and killer, Joey Garza. Accompanied by an inappropriate railroad accountant from Brooklyn, a reluctant Texas deputy and gangling, awkward Pea Eye Parker (who is trying to give up the Ranger life and settle down to farming and family with the lovely ex-whore Lorena), Call sets off, roaming the border country in his competent, unassuming fashion. Along the way he manages to slay Mox Mox, a fellow whose specialty is burning his victims alive, but with his arthritic fingers and failing eyes Call is no match for the alert, ice-cold Garza. How Pea Eye eventually gets his man, and how Call, terribly injured, slips into the shadows is the stuff of this sprawling but minutely detailed yarn. As before, McMurtry's empathic way with strong women--Lorena as well as Garza's gallant but despairing mother Maria--is as beguiling as is his way of bringing to life both dark-dyed villains and courtly heroes. As in some great 19th-century saga, the story has more than its share of improbable coincidences--people meeting fortuitously in thousands of square miles of empty territory, hearing vital news at appropriate and inappropriate moments--but these seem only mild contrivances to shape a story packed with action, terror, humor and pathos. Laredo is a fitting conclusion to a remarkable feat of reconstruction and sheer storytelling genius. 375,000 first printing; Doubleday Book Club main selection; Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove ( LJ 7/85), McMurtry once again uses the plainest of prose to tell a story that seems at once to be, for lack of any other word, a classic. Captain Call, now an old man, is hired by the railroad to hunt down a young train robber from Mexico named Joey Garza, who was raised by Apaches and who strikes targets well into Texas. The cast of characters includes a Yankee accountant sent to keep track of Call's expenses and Pea Eye, Call's longtime deputy, now settled down to a farming life with Lorena, a former prostitute who is the region's schoolteacher. As always, McMurtry somehow imbues even the least significant of his characters with individuality, and the notorious Judge Roy Bean and John Wesley Hardin make appearances. McMurtry unflinchingly explores the human capacity for evil and heroism in the face of it. Essential for all libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/93.
- David Dodd, Benicia P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Orion Paperbacks (February 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075282712X
• ISBN-13: 978-0752827124
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)

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

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Call's still got it in the worthy sequel to Lonesome Dove., December 19, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Streets of Laredo (Mass Market Paperback)

McMurtry shows us that not all sequels leave you unsatisfied. "Streets of Laredo" is an excellent book that shows a hero in his old age. It is both bittersweet and thrilling at the same time. We see Woodrow Call in his post-Gus McCrae days, taking on a bandit many years his junior. We see Pea Eye Parker, an unexpected choice for the last great Hat Creek member to follow Call, fighting his impulse to go on one last job with the captain. We see fear and hatred and loneliness and loss, and each emotion is conveyed in McMurtry's masterful way.

McMurtry adds a special note of realism by using actual historical figures--John Wesley Hardin, often called the West's most prolific killer, Charlie Goodnight, one of the great cowboys, and Judge Roy Bean, the hanging judge, the Law West of the Pecos. He weaves these people with his fictional characters like Pea, the Captain, and Ned Brookshire to make a very effective and entrancing novel.

"Streets of Laredo" is at times violent, amusing, depressing, and at all times interesting. A fine novel, and worthy of its predecessor, "Lonesome Dove." You can't go wrong with this one.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A bleak disappointment, January 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Streets of Laredo (Mass Market Paperback)

Like many other readers, I absolutely loved Lonesome Dove, which was the first novel I read after two years of only non-fiction. Lonesome Dove reminded me of what I was missing and I looked forward to Streets of Laredo.

I suffered a big disappointment. I am not so naive as to expect a sequel to be EXACTLY the same as the original (or maybe I was), but while Lonesome Dove was joyously written, Streets of Laredo seems angrily written.

McMurtry is a good writer and Lonesome Dove is surely his masterpiece. There is a reason that book is a beloved modern classic and Streets of Laredo is not.

The first book was anchored on the charisma of a truly memorable character, Gus McCrae, and his relationship with the reserved Captain Call. Their quest is the story, but the characters, and their friendship, drive the book.

There is none of that richness here, and I think McMurtry feels a little lost and angry without it. The book is filled with nearly pointless violence that seems designed to simply show that there is cruelty out there. Over and over, we are subjected to ugly scenes like the old Indian woman's trampling death, the attempted burning of the children, Joey's mutilation and murder of one of his mother's husbands. The list goes on and on.

Lonesome Dove had its share of violence, too, but it served to bring home the danger and ruthlessness of the West, casting into relief the bravery and heroism of the characters in the novel.

Here the west seems merely ugly and mean, an evil and frightening place. That is but one half of the vision McMurtry projected in Lonesome Dove, and it makes this book about half as good, which is to say just average.

I think McMurtry should have used his prodigious talents on new characters with new conflicts, instead of trying to force something out of the remnants of a group whose stories have already been marvelously told.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read- lets not compare to Lonesome Dove though, April 5, 2000

By 

David Farber - See all my reviews

This review is from: Streets of Laredo (Mass Market Paperback)

I must say I enjoyed reading Streets of Laredo. I recently read Lonesome Dove (one of my favorites) and was hoping for a repeat performance. I suppose with a book as outstanding as LD, a repeat is a tall drink to get down. But here I am, doing what every other reviewer on this list is doing: comparing the book to LD. If you do that then everyone will consider it a disappointment....LD was a masterpiece. I wish people wouldnt strike it for not being the same book as LD was. If I had never read LD before I would rate this a 4 star. I bet that most of the ratings given by others would be a bit higher if they had never read LD. The book blends fictional characters and real life westerners. Violence is widespread but in that era, that was the case. I especially love the way McMurtry weaves the stories of of the different characters together.

My big criticism is there is no good understanding of the root of Joey Garza's evil. Also the possiblity of Lorena marrying Pea Eye seems so remote, further description of her feelings towards him are needed to make it more believable.

Overall, the book was an enjoyable read. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a western. For those of you who have not read McMurtry yet, start with Lonesome Dove. That is the best.