This novel is simply amazing. This is a very serious book that attempts, in one sweeping tale, to tell the entire story of the American west. But for me that fact is beside the point. This book is one of those delightfully engaging page-turners that grabs a hold of you and transports you to another world, forcing you to forget your worries. You would have a difficult time finding better entertainment elsewhere.

If you’re put off by westerns, don’t let that steer you away from this wonderful book. You won’t find any silly caricatures here. The characters are richly drawn, and are so multidimensional that they seem more real than most real people you will ever meet. This novel won the Pulitzer prize and rightfully so. Mr. Mcmurtry deserves any accolades we can heap on him for giving us this wonderful masterpiece.

I loved every single page of it. I read it as fast as I could, yet kept trying to slow myself down because I didn’t want it to end. Thankfully Mr. McMurtry chose to write three other companion novels to Lonesome Dove. One is a prequel, and the two others are sequels. If I were you, and was desperately looking for an amazing read, something that would knock me right over, I would rush to buy this novel and its three companions. You may as well get them all. As soon as you finish one you’ll just rush out to get the next one.

Elmore Leonard has always been one of my favorite writers. Everyone raves about his mastery of dialog and his poetic prose, but for me is all about the characters and the story. Elmore Leonard is the man! He’s an industry all to himself. No one does it better. His characters just jump off the page, and you can’t help falling in love with them.

In this, his forty-second novel, he goes all out. In my opinion this is one of his best books ever. Leonard was a fantastic western writer before he switched over to mainstream crime fiction. In this novel he blends the two genres together to great effect.

It is not required, but if you’ve read his old western, Cuba Libre, you’ll get an extra kick out of this book. This is an intelligent, witty, well paced adrenaline rush of a novel. It’s a definite couldn’t put it down winner. If this is your first Elmore Leonard book, you’re in for a treat. Get it now.