Leaving Cheyenne

New York: Harper & Row, 1962. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Very good. McMurtry's second novel. Filmed by Sidney Lumet as Lovin' Molly in 1974.

The book came out while the hit movie Hud was still in the theaters, so the book got a lot more attention than most second novels are accorded. But the book was controversial in McMurtry's native north Texas. The nearest big city to McMurtry's hometown of Archer City was Wichita Falls. The paper there wrote (Sept. 22, 1963), "The book editor won't be running a review of Leaving Cheyenne for every reviewer to whom the book was offered (men at that, not a Mrs. Grundy in the lot) has backed away from it after a hasty reading. For again the author relies heavily upon four-letter words and sexual intimacies to carry his story along. Mr. McMurtry is letting his youth show, for the young man has talent (though the new book is not well-written)..." First edition (stated). A near fine copy with a bit of spotting to the unbleached cloth. The jacket is the second issue, price-clipped at the top with a $4.95 price sticker at the bottom of the flap. The price of the book was originally $4.50, but the publisher increased it at the last minute, and all reviews of the book cite the $4.95 price. It's likely that there are copies with unadulterated $4.50 prices, but they are very scarce. The jacket has shallow chips at the top of the spine but virtually none of the spine-fading this title is prone to. Further, it is inscribed, likely at the time of publication or soon thereafter, to some Houstonians (McMurtry was teaching at Rice in Houston when this book was published): "To Sandra & Bobby Gerry-with the author's best wishes-Larry McMurtry."

(Your cataloguer notes that at this early point in his career, McMurtry's inscription was in the style of 19th century autographs, which were often from "the author.").