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The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show: A Novel | Larry McMurtry
22 posts | 32 read | 17 to read
From the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Lonesome Dove comes a powerful coming-of-age novel set in the American West. In Thalia, Texas, Larry McMurtry epitomizes small-town America and through characters reintroduced in Texasville and Duanes Depressed, captures the ecstasy and heartbreak of adolescence.The Last Picture Show is one of Larry McMurtry's most memorable novels, and the basis for the enormously popular movie of the same name. Set in a small, dusty, Texas town, The Last Picture Show introduced the characters of Jacy, Duane, and Sonny: teenagers stumbling toward adulthood, discovering the beguiling mysteries of sex and the even more baffling mysteries of love. Populated by a wonderful cast of eccentrics and animated by McMurtry's wry and raucous humor, The Last Picture Show is a wild, heartbreaking, and poignant novel that resonates with the magical passion of youth.
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review
bunneeboy
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Pickpick

What great characters!

Bklover Have you seen the movie? 4mo
Leftcoastzen Love the book and the movie ! 4mo
bunneeboy Saw the movie many years ago. Definitely going to rewatch it! 4mo
10 likes3 comments
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BookMaven9
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Mehso-so

🌟🌟🌟a bleak look at small town life in Texas in the early 1950s through the eyes of 3 teens coming of age story. Well written story studying the microcosm of small town American. Wow! It wasn‘t the American dream people go on about. More like American nightmare.

SamAnne I will say the movie was really great. But bleak. Bleak bleak bleak. 1y
BookMaven9 Gonna watch it this weekend. I felt that bleakness travelling through those towns on a road trip. Depressing. 1y
dabbe Hello, sweet pup! 🖤🐾🖤 1y
18 likes3 comments
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Morr_Books
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Been traveling this weekend for a little anniversary getaway with the hubby, but I still managed to read a bit of the tagged book for #BackListReadathon. I may even finish it tonight. @Clwojick @TheAromaofBooks

Clwojick So pretty! ❤️ 2y
TheBookHippie Love this picture! 2y
Texreader Happy anniversary!! 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! Happy anniversary!! 2y
43 likes4 comments
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Morr_Books
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After finishing and loving Lonesome Dove during the #BackListReadathon last month, I am continuing my Larry McMurtry reading this week with the tagged book.
@TheAromaofBooks

Bklover This one was a movie way back in 1971 (had to look it up). It was nominated for several academy awards, but I don‘t remember much about it. This was the first McMurtry I read, although Lonesome Dove is my favorite. 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
37 likes2 comments
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Texreader
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I‘ve been thinking about trying to read a book set in or by an author from every US state and then lo and behold, NPR just posted this article on Instagram: check it out here:

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/13/1098827190/what-to-read-summer-travel?utm_campaig...

The tagged book is one of the books for Texas

tpixie Cool 3y
KristiAhlers I‘m actually doing a reading challenge of all 50 states and I‘ve managed 7 already. But this will make finding reads so much easier. Plus push me out of my comfort zone! 3y
quietjenn Thanks for sharing! I'm finding a lot of interesting sounding books to add to the tbr. 3y
52 likes3 comments
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mrp27
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#oppositeday #first

Last week was a rough one for us bookworms.

Texreader Yes it was 4y
TheKidUpstairs 😢❤📚 4y
28 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Leftcoastzen
Last Picture Show | Larry McMurtry
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📚The Last Picture Show
🖊D.H.Lawrence
🎥Legally Blonde
🎤Lyle Lovett
🎸Lawyers,Guns & Money -Warren Zevon
#ManicMonday #LetterL

RamsFan1963 I almost picked Lawyers, Guns and Money. Either that or Lawyers in Love by Jackson Browne. 5y
Leftcoastzen @RamsFan1963 that one is good too! 5y
JoScho Thanks for playing 🖤☺️ 5y
25 likes3 comments
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gradcat
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#WanderingJune

(Day 5 - #SmallTownBoy)

*The towns don‘t get much smaller than Thalia in the 1950s, where young boys grapple with the lure the big city and the pull of home. McMurtry‘s Texas trilogy (1st & 2nd books are “Horseman, Pass By” & ”Leaving Cheyenne; tagged book is the 3rd) is set in the bleak, rural (read dying) landscapes of mid-20th century Texas, some symbols of which are seen above. McMurtry is shown in the center.

BarbaraBB Great pictures!! 6y
gradcat @BarbaraBB Why, thank you! ♥️😊 6y
Crazeedi Excellent choice! 6y
See All 11 Comments
gradcat @Crazeedi Thank you (again)! But you haven‘t told me if you‘re doing better! ♥️ 6y
Crazeedi @gradcat good days, bad days! The rainy days might be playing havoc with me, who knows! I need some sunshine! 6y
Cinfhen Is this the same author as Lonesome Dove??? 6y
Cinfhen BTW: thanks for all the love and kind words. Appreciate the concern regarding my husband‘s illness. 💖 6y
gradcat @Cinfhen Indeed it is the same author as the tagged book. He‘s such a wonderful (and rather prolific) writer. I think just about anything he‘s written is worth reading. And just FYI: You‘re kind of a hero of mine, so I want to send you & your family all the positivity that I can. So glad your hubs is better & at home. ♥️ 6y
gradcat @Crazeedi Do you think the rain is bothering your joints? And maybe especially your hip? I hope you are getting up and around. I think the rain is everywhere at the moment—there‘s no escaping it! I hope you feel very much better really soon!! ♥️ 6y
Crazeedi @gradcat yep the weather wreaks havoc. Today is a good day! Be well my friend!! 6y
gradcat @Crazeedi Thanks for the good wishes, and I hope for days of good health for you, too. ♥️ 6y
62 likes1 stack add11 comments
review
rachaich
Last Picture Show | Larry McMurtry
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Pickpick

What a fantastic surprise read!
This goes down as a really absorbing book which documents the charters lives beautifully.
It reminded me of Steinbeck in the small town downbeat sentiments. Thoroughly great read :) :)

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rachaich
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Picked this up from a charity shop as the cover was so appealing.
I started reading it last night and it's great!
As it says, nit much happens in Thalia but that's what interests me: the lives of the ordinary inhabitants.

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Whitwhit
Last Picture Show | Larry McMurtry
Pickpick

Good

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Brooke_H
Last Picture Show | Larry McMurtry
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I‘m watching the movie now, and I don‘t really like it any more than I liked the book. I‘m grateful the movie does not include the more disturbing parts of the book tho. The acting is good. 🤷‍♀️ I don‘t get why the novel and movie were both so popular.

Caroline2 Yeah I was massively underwhelmed by the movie too! 🤷‍♀️ 6y
14 likes1 comment
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Brooke_H
Last Picture Show | Larry McMurtry
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Mehso-so

This book has masterful writing, complex characters, I am sort of interested in reading the next book in the series (because I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess). Mostly the book is just bleak and joyless and icky.

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Brooke_H
Last Picture Show | Larry McMurtry
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I have such mixed feelings about this book, I‘m having a hard time figuring out what my review will be like. Up early this morning to try to finish it. I‘ll be glad when I‘m done. This photo is the movie theater in Archer City, TX. McMurtry‘s home town and the inspiration for Thalia.

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ReadingGlasses
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Pickpick

This poignant and quiet look at small town life was so compelling! - @malloryomeara

9 likes2 stack adds
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GAustin
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Mehso-so

Honestly, just not for me. The writing was actually very good. The pace was good. The content was a bit much for me. Maybe I'm getting old, becoming a curmudgeon. Too many details I don't need or want to read about. The characters I found to be not very likable. I was a teen once. But I didn't know these people. Published in 1966. I guess things were getting edgy. Summer of love just a few years out.

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GAustin
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As the words go in #pepper. I don't mind the sun sometimes, the images it shows. I can taste you on my lips and smell you in my clothes. Cinnamon and sugary and softly spoke lies... #90sinJuly. This is my August read set in Texas and I thought perfect to end this months play list. It was a pretty awesome one. Well done @Robothugs

Robothugs It fits perfect! 7y
Cinfhen 💕💕 7y
9 likes1 stack add2 comments
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squarepeginroundhole
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"... he was what made the days worth confronting."

25 likes2 stack adds
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azulaco

#rockinmay #smalltown For me, this is the ultimate small town novel. The other books in the Thalia series are also excellent at painting a picture of the relationships in a small town.

Cinfhen Blurb sounds wonderful and I recall the film title..another book stacked! 8y
10 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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SGJ
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File under #bookhaul. Also file under "dude is going to have to strap these to his body like plate armor, since no way will they even come close to fitting in his carryon." But, a HC Sabine Baring-Gould? A The Last Picture show this exquisite? A book called "Guts," with a tagline of "Rock 'n' Roll was the answer for this man out of time"? This much vintage Ramsey Campbell? I was actually physically incapable of not handing my money across.

Hooked_on_books I laughed out loud at the image of someone strapping books to themselves to get them home! 😂 I've been known to buy tote bags to use as my second carry on (I've done this more than once). 8y
Dogearedcopy I've been known to pack crates of books outside of a NYC FedEx or UPS shipping point, right on the sidewalk with boxes & tape because they don't allow you to pack inside the stores! 😊 8y
LeahBergen I'm coveting that The Last Picture Show (and read Burnt Offerings around 1980!). 8y
SGJ I love love love Burnt Offerings (I did the intro on the recent one). 8y
70 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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CherylDeFranceschi
Last Picture Show | Larry McMurtry
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When you think you're getting a new 800 page Larry McMurtry, and you're so excited that you think you may pass out, only to realize that you've read all these- it's a compendium. And you're really sad. But then, you realize that you read them so very long ago, it will still be ok. Plus, you loved them oodles. But- if you were going to put The Last Picture Show in a collection, why would you put it with other books than the sequels? 🤔

Suet624 Hmmm...I agree with you on all counts. 8y
74 likes1 comment
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jveezer
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Just finished this candidate for my #BestBookof1966, while gong fu'ing some awesome WuYi rock oolong. #BestReadat50.