HORSEMAN, PASS BY.
INSCRIBED
College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1985. 179pp. Yellow cloth, title in black ink on spine. Reprint edition of the 1961 first. INSCRIBED. Very fine in an equally nice, unclipped dust jacket. Reese, Six Score 77: “No novel deals more frankly with modern ranch life and conflict between traditional and contemporary mores.” Horseman, Pass By is McMurtry’s first novel published when he was twenty-five. Set in post-World War II Texas, it portrays life on a cattle ranch from the perspective of its young narrator, Lonnie Bannon. The Bannon Ranch is owned by Lonnie’s grandfather, Homer. Homer’s cruel stepson, Hud, is the primary antagonist in the novel. The book inspired the film Hud, staring Paul Newman as the title character. Exceptionally nice, signed copies of any of McMurtry’s books are scarce.
