as of yesterday afternoon in a lawn chair and 60 degree afternoon sun, i have finished lonesome dove.

oh. my. there is a reason that book is called Epic. the characters are absolutely luxurious: i’m still sort of stunned by the  way mcmurtry seamlessly switches point of view so that you are constantly seeing and understanding the story from every possible angle.

it is a rough story and i’m glad that it’s a rough story. as a kid who grew up on revisionist colorado history, it was so interesting to read about the western expansion from a perspective that was all cowboy. i have a new respect for cowboys. [i have to admit, however, that i can't speak for the historical accuracy of the account. it is fiction after all.]

for those of you who are considering it, i will warn you that it’s long. not just in page count, but in terms of exposition and denouement: both take hundreds of pages. and even with its long, slow end something about the last twenty pages is too fast. much too fast.

that said, i loved reading lonesome dove. i looked forward to curling up with the cowboys and indians. and i would feel sort of lonely except lorrie moore’s new novel a gate at the stairs fell into my lap. i want to cuddle and croon over every single sentence in this book, they’re all so beautiful and intoxicating. i can’t wait to see where it takes me. and after that, a short history of women is still calling my name.