Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I got to page 84 and lost interest. That pretty much says it all.
Rating: 
Summary: McMurty writes a simple story.
Review: I have read just about everything by McMurtry and like the man. His nonfiction work 'Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen...' moved me. Larry suffered and did not feel like himself after open heart surgery. The writer who entertained was struggling just to be, let alone worrying about writing. Now he writes a simple story. 'Boone's Lick'. Maybe not an epic, but hopefully Larry is feeling more like himself. It is nice to see Larry writing and maybe he has another epic up his sleeve, and then again maybe he doesn't. It was nice getting to know Larry McMurtry and the man will always hold a special place in my heart. Anything he writes deserves to be read, just because he wrote it.
Rating: 
Summary: MY OPENION-----MCMURTRY HAS DONE BETTER!!!!!
Review: I have read several McMurtry books, I have enjoyed them all. I guess my favorite was Lonesome Dove. I just never could get into Boone's Lick. It is the story of Mary Margaret Cecil and all her family setting out from Boone's Lick, Missouri to the west. She is looking for her husband Dick Cecil. He has not been home it fourteen months. She thinks she knows why but she does not tell her family. The book takes them through their travels, some good and some bad. The pace of the book was very slow but the ending happened very fast. It is almost like MuMurtry wanted to do something else and he just quickly finished the book. This book never held my attention, I never hated to put it down and do something else, like I do with some I read. Again, my openion, but McMurtry has done much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!!
Review: I love everything Larry McMurtry writes, but without a doubt, this is his finest since Lonesome Dove! I have been anxiously awaiting a new novel and this one was worth the wait! It's a dandy!!
Rating:
Summary: For Teachers...
Review: I love Larry McMurtry. He is undeniably a great author! As a
history teacher, I am always looking for ways to make history
interesting to a classroom full of teenagers who think history
is useless and a waste of their precious time. I am considering
incorporating this book (or maybe excerpts from the book) in
my American history class when discussing the Oregon Trail.
Since it is written in first person point of view with a
teenager as the narrator, I hope some of my students can relate.
The only problems were some "inappropriate" language and one
character being a prostitute (at least one parent will ALWAYS
object to any book assigned in class). I personally enjoyed
the book.
Rating:
Summary: For Teachers...
Review: I love Larry McMurtry. He is undeniably a great author! As a
history teacher, I am always looking for ways to make history
interesting to a classroom full of teenagers who think history
is useless and a waste of their precious time. I am considering
incorporating this book (or maybe excerpts from the book) in
my American history class when discussing the Oregon Trail.
Since it is written in first person point of view with a
teenager as the narrator, I hope some of my students can relate.
The only problems were some "inappropriate" language and one
character being a prostitute (at least one parent will ALWAYS
object to any book assigned in class). I personally enjoyed
the book.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: I still don't really know what to think of this novel. The characters show a lot of potential, but that is never realised. Some characters are great, but appear only briefly in the novel. Even the character of Mary Margaret, who has the potential to be one of McMurtry's best, falls rather short.
When I was reading the novel, it often reminded me of an abbreviated novel: a great story which has all the flesh cut out. Pity.
Rating: 
Summary: Not interesting at all
Review: I think "Lonesome Dove" is just about the best novel I have ever read. "Boone's Lick" is just about the worst. I cannot quite imagine the same person writing both.
Rating:
Summary: McMurtry gets better and better
Review: I've been a reader of McMurtry's novels for years--I've always enjoyed his storytelling, but what I've seen over the years is a paring down of the details in his stories so that narrative and description of place are becoming displaced by the voice of the protagonists--who are not omnicient, but simply tell the story of themselves in circumstances over which they have no control.Boone's Lick is a beautiful, simple novel. No--it's not Lonesome Dove and Lonesome Dove fans should not judge Boone's Lick based on their love of only one of McMurtry's novels. McMurtry went through a dry period which included junk like the sequel to Terms of Endearment (I can't even remember the title of the book, it was so substandard), but I have been moved by both Duane's Dead, and now, Boone's Lick. Readers who expect a great narrative will be disappointed by this novel. But those who expect subtle character development through the voice of a simple, gentle character to tell a story of the old west will be pleased. I'd advise any reader to be patient, and continue on--by the last 75 pages, I was unable to put the book down and wept at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: If anyone but Larry McMurtry had written this, I very much doubt it would have been published. I would classify the book as "an expanded outline of a novel" or a short story rather than a novel. What happened to the McMurtry who wrote "Lonesome Dove?" Has he become so infatuated with himself that he has forgotten how to tell a story and infuse flesh into his characters" I think the story here and the characters are a good basis for a decent novel. But "killing off" one his most potentially interesting characters -- Grandpa -- so early leaves you wondering why he was introduced in the first place. It gets worse with the treatment of the Indian and the priest. The hard cover edition is dreadfully short. Maybe it should have been classified as a short story. The book's large type and larger page margins do not make a novel. Come on McMurtry, you are capable of so much more.
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