The Desert Rose : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A Touching Story
Review: Harmony is one of my favorite McMurtry characters-she's savvy, saucy, and sweet all at the same time- even if I didn't necessarily agree with her choice in men! I did wish that she'd been able to start to settle things with her daughter by the end of the book. I absolutely loved Harmony and all her crazy friends and her peacocks!

Rating:
Summary: Stunning, lyrical novel
Review: I love McMurtry's writing -- but this is far from his best. The weakness in this book is the main character: Harmony is powerless, easily intimidated and willfully blind to what goes on around her. Yes, she's a nice enough person, but she lacks the strength to take any decisive action in her life. Her daughter, Pepper, is energetic and domineering, even somewhat ruthless. Harmony watches her daughter's rise in life, but cannot seem to understand it or learn from it. She is, at the end of the book, as unfocused and weak as she was at the beginning. It's true that not every novel has to be a "bildungsroman." Still, I wanted to see Harmony open her eyes and show some spunk.

Rating:
Summary: A Faded Rose
Review: I love McMurtry's writing -- but this is far from his best. The weakness in this book is the main character: Harmony is powerless, easily intimidated and willfully blind to what goes on around her. Yes, she's a nice enough person, but she lacks the strength to take any decisive action in her life. Her daughter, Pepper, is energetic and domineering, even somewhat ruthless. Harmony watches her daughter's rise in life, but cannot seem to understand it or learn from it. She is, at the end of the book, as unfocused and weak as she was at the beginning. It's true that not every novel has to be a "bildungsroman." Still, I wanted to see Harmony open her eyes and show some spunk.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite McMurty stories...
Review: I loved all of the quirky characters in this book. Harmony's optimism in the face of the reality of her life is inspiring. I can't wait to read the sequel to find out what happens.

Rating:
Summary: Loved this book!!
Review: I loved all of the quirky characters in this book. Harmony's optimism in the face of the reality of her life is inspiring. I can't wait to read the sequel to find out what happens.

Rating:
Summary: THE DESERT ROSE
Review: I must admit I became a Larry McMurtry fan when I read Lonesome Dove, my first McMurtry novel. Since then I have been disppointed in most of his books I have read. The Desert Rose was a huge disappointment. Had I read Desert Rose first I probably would never have read another of his books. It was trashy from beginning to end. Was it really necessary to use the f word so often? Perhaps the book is a true picture of the Las Vegas showgirl scene. There many, many, many better books to read. Your time could be better spent.

Rating:
Summary: THE DESERT ROSE
Review: I must admit I became a Larry McMurtry fan when I read Lonesome Dove, my first McMurtry novel. Since then I have been disppointed in most of his books I have read. The Desert Rose was a huge disappointment. Had I read Desert Rose first I probably would never have read another of his books. It was trashy from beginning to end. Was it really necessary to use the f word so often? Perhaps the book is a true picture of the Las Vegas showgirl scene. There many, many, many better books to read. Your time could be better spent.

Rating:
Summary: Not Mcmurtry's best
Review: I read this book after reading Lonesome Dove, and was not tremendously impressed. I'm a big Mcmurtry fan, having read several of his other books, and must say that this one is a bit weaker than his others. It is very quick and easy to read, however, and did interest me enough that I bought The Late Child (the sequel).

Rating:
Summary: Looking for love in all the wrong places...
Review: Not a typical McMurtry novel;but then again none of his are.I've had this book for a long time as well as it's sequel "The Late Child"and for a change of pace decided to give it a try.
It is a great read.Somewhat like "Tems of Endearment";but more along the lines of "Cadillac Jack";which was my first McMurtry novel and probably my favorite.As a matter of fact I would'nt have been surprised if he has shown up somewhere;maybe at one of Myrtle's garage sales.
McMurtry has put together a great bunch of characters who all belong with one another.Kind of like the cast you find in a novel by Erskine Caldwell,Kinky Friedman,Hunter Thompson or even Steinbeck.These characters come from a different slice of life . These are the personal lives of the people who live very public lives in the Las Vegas entertainment world.In spite of it all, these are real people.Mc Murtry shows it is a tough world and eats up the workers and gamblers and spits them out when they reach the end of their prime or run out of cash.Rather than being Rednecks I guess you'd have to call them Pinknecks.They are somewhat akin to those loveable characters we know as Carnies.
Anyway, the book is a great,fast moving read with a surprise on every turn of a page.A lot of characters and I'm glad I made notes as they appeared so I could keep track of them.
Liked it so much I'm reading "The Late Child " next to see what happened to all these characters.It's surprising that so much time went by between this book and the sequel--12 years.

Rating:
Summary: Looking for love in all the wrong places...
Review: Not a typical McMurtry novel;but then again none of his are.I've had this book for a long time as well as it's sequel "The Late Child"and for a change of pace decided to give it a try.
It is a great read.Somewhat like "Tems of Endearment";but more along the lines of "Cadillac Jack";which was my first McMurtry novel and probably my favorite.As a matter of fact I would'nt have been surprised if he has shown up somewhere;maybe at one of Myrtle's garage sales.
McMurtry has put together a great bunch of characters who all belong with one another.Kind of like the cast you find in a novel by Erskine Caldwell,Kinky Friedman,Hunter Thompson or even Steinbeck.These characters come from a different slice of life . These are the personal lives of the people who live very public lives in the Las Vegas entertainment world.In spite of it all, these are real people.Mc Murtry shows it is a tough world and eats up the workers and gamblers and spits them out when they reach the end of their prime or run out of cash.Rather than being Rednecks I guess you'd have to call them Pinknecks.They are somewhat akin to those loveable characters we know as Carnies.
Anyway, the book is a great,fast moving read with a surprise on every turn of a page.A lot of characters and I'm glad I made notes as they appeared so I could keep track of them.
Liked it so much I'm reading "The Late Child " next to see what happened to all these characters.It's surprising that so much time went by between this book and the sequel--12 years.