McMurtry was born in Archer City, Texas, 25 miles from Wichita Falls, Texas, the son of Hazel Ruth (née McIver) and William Jefferson McMurtry, who was a rancher. He grew up on a ranch outside Archer City, which is the model for the town of Thalia that appears in much of his fiction. He earned degrees from the University of North Texas (B.A. 1958) and Rice University (M.A. 1960). McMurtry states in his memoir that he spent his first five or six years in his grandfather's house on a ranch without books. but his extended family would sit on the front porch every night and tell stories. It wasn't until 1942 when his cousin Robert Hilburn on his way to enlist for WWII stopped by the ranch house and left a box containing 19 books that he began to read. The books were standard boys' adventure tales of the thirties and he read them to tatters.
My Opinion: Although I would not class McMurtry as a mystery or crime writer, I feel I must include him because of the great readability of his books and his prolific record as a developer of books turned into movies. The "Lonsome Dove" series was absolutely outstanding and should be read. I urge you to try him. I intend to read more of his work.Just finished The Last Kind Words Saloon which includes the story of the gunfight at the OK Corral. Great read.
Standalone novels
1961: Horseman, Pass By - adapted for film as Hud
1963: Leaving Cheyenne - adapted for film as Lovin' Molly
1982: Cadillac Jack
1988: Anything For Billy (fictionalised bio of Billy the Kid)
1990: Buffalo Girls (fictionalised bio of Calamity Jane) - adapted for TV as Buffalo Girls
1994: Pretty Boy Floyd (with Diana Ossana) (fictionalised bio of titular gangster)
1997: Zeke and Ned (with Diana Ossana) (fictionalised bio of the last Cherokee warriors)
2000: Boone's Lick
2005: Loop Group
2006: Telegraph Days
2014: The Last Kind Words Saloon (X)
Follows story of mother/daughter characters Harmony and Pepper
1983: The Desert Rose
1995: The Late Child
Follows story of character Duane Moore
1966: The Last Picture Show - adapted for film as The Last Picture Show
1987: Texasville - adapted for film as Texasville
1999: Duane's Depressed
2007: When The Light Goes
2009: Rhino Ranch: A Novel
Follows stories of occasionally recurring characters living in Houston Texas area
1970: Moving On (characters Patsy Carpenter/Danny Deck/Emma Horton/Joe Percy)
1972: All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers (Danny Deck/Jill Peel)
1975: Terms of Endearment (Emma Horton/Aurora Greenaway) - adapted for film as Terms of Endearment
1978: Somebody's Darling (Jill Peel/Joe Percy)
1989: Some Can Whistle (Danny Deck)
1992: The Evening Star (Aurora Greenaway) - adapted for film as The Evening Star
1985: Lonesome Dove, 1986 Pulitzer Prize winner - adapted for TV miniseries as Lonesome Dove
1993: Streets of Laredo - adapted for TV miniseries as Streets of Laredo
1995: Dead Man's Walk - adapted for TV miniseries as Dead Man's Walk
1997: Comanche Moon - adapted for TV miniseries as Comanche Moon
2002: Sin Killer
2003: The Wandering Hill
2003: By Sorrow's River
2004: Folly and Glory
1999: Still Wild: A Collection of Western Stories
1988: The Murder of Mary Phagan - TV movie
1990: Montana - TV movie
1992: Memphis - TV movie
1992: Falling from Grace - film starring John Mellencamp
2002: Johnson County War - TV mini-series
2005: Brokeback Mountain (with Diana Ossana) - Oscar-winning screenplay (adapted from the short story by E. Annie Proulx)