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Larry McMurtry

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Dead Man's Walk (Lonesome Dove, 1) Mass Market Paperback – June 1, 1996

by Larry McMurtry (Author)

4,547

Book 3 of 4: Lonesome Dove

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The first of Larry McCurtry's Pulitzer Prize–winning Lonesome Dove tetralogy, showcasing McCurtry's talent for breathing new life into the vanished American West through two of the most memorable heroes in contemporary fiction: Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call.

As young Texas Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call ("Gus" and "Call" for short) have much to learn about survival in a land fraught with perils: not only the blazing heat and raging tornadoes, roiling rivers and merciless Indians, but also the deadly whims of soldiers. On their first expeditions—led by incompetent officers and accompanied by the robust, dauntless whore known as the Great Western—they will face death at the hands of the cunning Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump and the silent Apache Gomez. They will be astonished by the Mexican army. And Gus will meet the love of his life.

Book 3 of 4

Lonesome Dove
Print length

528 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pocket Books
Publication date

June 1, 1996
Dimensions

4.19 x 1.1 x 6.75 inches
ISBN-10

0671001167
ISBN-13

978-0671001162
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McMurtry's prequel to his Pulitzer-winning Lonesome Dove spent 10 weeks on PW's bestseller list.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Larry McMurtry (1936–2021) was the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Lonesome Dove, three memoirs, two collections of essays, and more than thirty screenplays. He lived in Archer City, Texas.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pocket Books (June 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0671001167
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671001162
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.19 x 1.1 x 6.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #572,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8,475 in Westerns (Books)
- #32,422 in American Literature (Books)
- #42,180 in Historical Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4,547

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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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Kitten With a Whip

Grim Prarie Tale

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2002

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This book in the Lonsesome Dove series in the first, in chronological order. Gus and Call, called 'young pups' by their elders, have joined the Texas Rangers, hoping for some adventure (and for Gus, a little brothel action and card playing). Soon after their expedition begins, they discover they are in way over their heads. The Commanches are, literally, on the warpath, and hate white people (with good reason, considering the way the white men treated them). They are also very smart, very fast, very skilled in riding and fighting, and VERY bloodthirsty. The main Chief, who even the most hardened soldiers are scared of, is Buffalo Hump, and he is introduced in an unforgettable lightning storm on the prarie, in one of the most vivid, terrifying scenes in the entire series (and if you've read the series, you know things can get VERY ugly). The men in charge of the expedition are either crazy, stupid, drunk, have a very short fuse, or all of the above. The trek starts out rather confident, looking forward to the challenges to come, but soon realize they are no match for the Indians. The Commanches set up a variety of clever, deadly, devastating traps, and soon their ranks are halved, then quartered, then...then it gets REALLY ugly.
This book was a page-turner, and had all the entertaining characters a reader comes to expect from the series. All of the books treat death as an everyday thing, but I think this is one of the most cold-blooded; do not read if you're sqeamish. There's not just one or two nasty scenes, either, they count many and come fast. This is an entertaining book, one that I couldn't put down, but not especially pleasant. A good read, don't get me wrong, but one that is emotionally gruelling.
I guess if you wanted to read the books in chronological order, this would be the one to start. I had planned to do that originally, after I read LD, but have found reading them in the order they were written is actually more satisfying; backstory is filled in, and you get a better perspective.
If you loved LD, read this and the other books in the series. If you're just starting out, read LD first; it may be the strongest, but it will give you an idea of just what a treat you're in for. No ccomplaints here-I put the bok down after reading the last page, and promptly walked right over to my new copy of Commanche Moon (I wisely bought them at the same time) and started in.
This author was born to write.

59 people found this helpful

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J. P Spencer

An American Heart of Darkness

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2018

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Definitely not your father's Louis Lamour or Zane Gray, Dead Man's Walk is almost a cross between McCarthy's Blood Meridian and Conrad's Heart of Darkness. A prequel to Lonesome Dove but written afterwards, the two heroes of Lonesome Dove are shown here at the outset of their careers as Texas Rangers. Set in the 1840's, they participate in an expedition (based on a true incident) to take Santa Fe from the Mexicans. Along the way, they meet every kind of violent death: wild animals, sadistic and utterly incompetent leaders, incredibly hostile terrain and weather, and most notably exceedingly homicidal Comanches and Apaches. The tale is very well done with one reservation: I'm not sure what I make of McMurtry's portrayal of Buffalo Hump and Gomez. While the chief protagonists and necessary to telling the story of Gus and Call's development, they are almost cartoon Indians in the John Ford style (albeit a lot more competent, murderous, and sadistic). In the end though, they are a big part of this epic flight from death and they will be in my nightmares for a long time as they are in Gus and Call's.

8 people found this helpful

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jeremy m mclendon

great book

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024

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For years every deer season I read Lonesome Dove during the season. This year I decided to read the 3 other books. Glad I did.

2 people found this helpful

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Tripower53

Excellent first-in-the series of the Lonesome Dove saga

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2018

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4 and 1 / 2 stars

In this novel, Woodrow Call and Augustus “Gus” McCrae are just young men who have joined the Texas Rangers. On their first ride out to survey a new road, they meet up with Buffalo Hump, one of the fiercest Comanche warriors on the plains. They lose two men, and are lucky to make it back safely to San Antonio.

On their next adventure, the troop heads out for Santa Fe, New Mexico – over a thousand miles away! They meet up with a tornado. Gus falls in love with practically every woman he sees. Gus loves to embellish his stories with outright fibs. Call has a cooler head and thinks Gus is more than a little lazy and spends too much time whoring and drinking. Call intends to save his money for better weapons. They finally get to the meeting place for this expedition and meet Caleb Cobb and his sidekick Billy Falconer. Caleb is not as Gus presented him and Billy is mean. Along for the ride is General Lloyd. He is a drunk and so out of it that he cannot ride his own horse, so he rides in a wagon.

Riding through the plains, Call had plenty of time to think about getting lost. The desolate countryside was daunting. The reader has to remember that there were no streetlights and no guardrails to help them along their way. There was nothing but blackness and the fear of losing one’s way at night. The fear of Indians and a horse going lame was another consideration.

I simply wouldn’t have made it. I’m not tough enough.

All of their little party is shocked when Caleb Cobb invites Buffalo Hump into camp to eat and parley. The men absolutely hate him and want to kill him. But they stay their feelings during the meeting. When Caleb wants to give Buffalo Hump Billy Falconer’s fine Holland and Holland rifle as a present, Falconer balks and threatens to quit. Cobb “resigns” Falconer and gives the rifle to Buffalo Hump who rides off without another word.

Later the Comanche set fire to the plains from three directions when the soldiers have their backs to a steep and deep canyon. Caleb Cobb dithers and the men just have time to leap over the edge of the canyon in order to save themselves. Several men die in the attempt and the horses run off. When the fire dies down, the men find themselves afoot with no food and very little water. The desert is unforgiving.

Call, Gus and Bigfoot are captured by the Mexican army. They are shackled and walking across the plains when the little camp was attacked by a grizzly. It scattered the frightened Mexicans, killed Captain Salazar’s horse and ran rampant through the camp. Call, Gus and Bigfoot got away and were lucky enough to find Caleb Cobb and a diminished troop of men. They marched without food or water for a while and were met by the Mexican army – hundreds of men, mounted soldiers and cannon. Captured once again, Caleb Cobb surrenders. Call is absolutely furious with Cobb.

They are escorted and on their way to Mexico City over a thousand miles away. The problem is that they have to cross an area called the dead man’s walk. Through sleet, bitter cold and without much food or water they march on. Then handed off to a humorless major and his soldiers for the remainder of their walk, they are told to bathe in the Rio Grande. It is very cold. Some of the younger of the Texans panic and start to flee. The Mexican soldiers run rampant on them, killing several despite the major’s yelling at them to stop, and Bigfoot as well yelling at the Texans.

When they get to the little town which is surrounded by feral dogs, they are told to pick blindfolded from a jar of beans. There are ten men left – and Mattie- and if they pick a white bean they will live. If they pick a black bean, they will be shot.

Gus and Call make it and then they meet a Scottish Lady Carey and her Viscount son Willy. The Lady has leprosy, but her son and maids do not. She proposes to the five men that they take her to Galveston. Since they are now housed in a leper colony and there are no soldiers about, they decide to go.

What follows is perhaps the most amusing and inexplicable journey yet. It is brilliant.

What a good novel this is. Across the plains of Texas and New Mexico and down the Dead Man’s Walk, Gus and Call manage to survive against all odds. It is a harrowing and scary journey of several thousand miles. (I wouldn’t have made it one in that environment.)

19 people found this helpful

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Paul Ratte

Excellent

Reviewed in Canada on September 27, 2023

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I love McMurtry's western tales. He's an excellent writer and this is the first book of the Lonesome Dove tetralogy. Highly recommended

Erika

El producto es exactamente lo esperado.

Reviewed in Mexico on December 15, 2022

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Todo excelente con el producto y con el proveedor.
Mi único comentario es que ya me ha sucedido varias veces que DHL dice haber ido a tu domicilio cuando no es así y se pierde tiempo en la espera de la llegada del paquete, ya que lo reprograman imputando que el cliente no estaba en el domicilio.

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Alison Barp

Péssima qualidade!!!

Reviewed in Brazil on October 31, 2020

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Conforme foto, as últimas páginas vieram tudo bagunçadas, rasgadas, uma coisa absurda!

One person found this helpful

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KonMax

Sehr guter Start in Richtung: Lonesome Dove.

Reviewed in Germany on April 21, 2021

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Larry McMurtry ist leider vor einigen Tagen verstorben, er möge ruhen in den ewigen Jagdgründen, die wahrscheinlich wie Texas aussehen. "Dead Man's Walk" ist eine gute Vorbereitung für den Höhepunkt der Serie: "Lonesome Dove", dem Klassiker des modernen Westerns. Larry schrieb diesen Roman als ersten aus der Serie, "Dead Man's Walk" schob er als "pre"-quel nach. Verlängert das Lesevergnügen.

2 people found this helpful

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