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Larry McMurtry

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Somebody's Darling: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Larry McMurtry (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.7 188 ratings

Book 4 of 6: Houston

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The personal and professional struggles of McMurtry’s lively protagonist Jill Peel, a director in 1970s Hollywood, takes on new resonance in the twenty-first century.

Forty years ago, Larry McMurtry journeyed from the sprawling ranches of his early work to the provocative Sunset Strip, creating a Hollywood fable that is both immediate and relevant in today’s dynamic cultural climate. One would never guess that Jill Peel is still on the verge of stardom. Jill won an Oscar shortly after her fresh-faced arrival in 1950s Hollywood, then for the next twenty years batted away every Tinseltown producer who tried to hire her and get her into bed. Now middle-aged, she’s determined to create more movie magic by directing a cast of raunchy eccentrics, including Joe Percy, an aging womanizing screenwriter, and ex-football player Owen Oarson, eager to sleep his way to leading-man stardom. Teeming with biting humor and intriguing characters that mirror the scandals of modern-day Hollywood, Somebody’s Darling is a timeless story about a fiercely capable woman who dares to challenge the realities of a deceptively seductive Babel.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jonathan Yardley The New York Times Book Review Real, believable, and touching...[McMurtry is] always a pleasure to read. And he is a very funny writer.

The Washington Post Arresting, kindly, and wry. McMurtry manages to be funny as he slouches through Hollywood.

From the Publisher

8 1.5-hour cassettes

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07BLNM5GV
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Liveright; Reprint edition (October 2, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 2, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1272 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 372 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B005SNO6MM

Best Sellers Rank: #362,695 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #633 in Psychological Literary Fiction
- #2,454 in Psychological Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #3,927 in Psychological Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
3.7 188 ratings

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Larry McMurtry

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Larry McMurtry is the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove. His other works include two collections of essays, three memoirs, and more than thirty screenplays, including the coauthorship of Brokeback Mountain, for which he received an Academy Award. His most recent novel, When the Light Goes, is available from Simon & Schuster. He lived in Archer City, Texas.

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3.7 out of 5

188 global ratings

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J. P. Boylan

Penetrating View of Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2013

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I loved this when I first read it and still do upon re-reading some thirty years later. Part of it is a well-disguised roman a clef featuring characters with more than a passing resemblance to Barbra Streisand, Jon Peters, and Polly Platt. Although McMurty's portrait of life in Tinseltown is fairly cynical, you still get a sense of hope and redemption.

3 people found this helpful

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Carolyn H.

i loved this book the first time

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2017

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it is sometimes odd to reread McMurtry. i loved this book the first time, kinda liked it this time to read to a sick friend. think i will read Movin' On next, since i lived near Rice when i first read it and it was iinteresting as a neighborhood memoir. could sure tell he had some great stuff in him. who can ever get over Lonesome Dove?

One person found this helpful

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Foothiller16

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2017

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Not his best by any means.

2 people found this helpful

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kathfay

Insider's Hollywood

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2013

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McMurtry's characters and their dialog is always the best. His backgrounds and in this book a look inside the film busines make for a fun read.

One person found this helpful

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olingerstories

Reading Somebody's Darling is like watching a post-Polly Platt Peter Bogdanovich movie

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2017

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Reading Somebody's Darling is like watching a post-Polly Platt Peter Bogdanovich movie. It has bits and pieces of excellence, but lacks greatness. Perhaps in that way Larry McMurtry succeeded in that the book is dedicated to Polly and Peter, and the main character, Jill Peel, in undeniably based on her. But, knowing that only adds to the disappointment. Characters don't need to be sympathetic; they should at least be interesting. And, McMurtry's Hollywood is a poor substitute for McMurtry's Archer City.

4 people found this helpful

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Connie E. Arthur

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2017

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Not his best.

One person found this helpful

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pondwitch

Nothing Here

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2022

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At first I was tickled to be reading this Hollywood story, having been around during that era and understanding how it was back in the day.
I also believe Lonesome Dove is a masterpiece. But Somebody's Darling becomes what I call an "old man" book. Obsessed with drinking and screwing, and thinking about drinking and screwing, and then--drinking and screwing. I endured for about a third of the book and I just can't finish it. Sorry Larry, there are other things to do in life as well.

2 people found this helpful

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Clayton O. Hall

A great example of McMurtry's diversity

Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2000

In a novel about one of Larry McMurtry's most lovable female characters, McMurtry shows the literary diversity that has caused some critics to claim that he has the best male insight into the female world of any modern American novelist. The novel develops the stories of memorable but minor characters from All My Friends and Moving On into an insightful look at late 1970s Hollywood, and McMurtry's creative literary strategy shows that he is a master of characterization.

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Somebody's Darling: A Novel Kindle Edition

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