The Last Picture Show » (Reprint)

Larry McMurtry worked as a cowhand on his father's Texas cattle ranch until he was 22, but never aspired to be a rancher. Instead, he published his first novel, Horseman, Pass By, when he was just 25. More than two dozen novels later, there's still more to McMurtry than a typical western.

It was Sam the Lion, the rough-edged yet protective old sentimentalist who gave Thalia its poolhall, its all-night cafe, and, most cherished in the reverie of the town's restless youth, its own picture show. Set in the north-central Texas of the late 1950s, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW is an unforgettable novel of youth and dreams, and of harsh, dry reality.

Later made into an award-winning motion picture, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW demonstrates Larry McMurtry's talents as a writer and observer.

The New York Times - Thomas Lask

The Last Picture Show is funny and brutal at the same time.