Reviews

Anything for Billy by Larry McMurtry

jennyn52779's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

tarugani's review against another edition

4.0

I loved the first half of this or so but then it started feeling kind of repetitive. Still. 3.5?

nbeudert's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

leleroulant's review against another edition

2.0

I love McMurtry, but this is not one of my favorites. I've tried to read it twice but can't get through it. It doesn't seem to have any plot.

robmoldad's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

4.5

vrh10298's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

lolomommy's review against another edition

4.0

I loved the story, but there was nothing close to the actual history. I was a dissapointed that none of the story was close to what really happened. It would have been better to make Billy a character that wasn't suppose to be Billy the Kid.

pakebrokenshire's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Decent.

hudson88's review against another edition

4.0

McNurtry lays out his fictionalized account of the famous boy outlaw's final escapades through the eyes of Mr Sippy, an author who grew tired of his domestic life and sought the adventure of the wild west. He and the reader become entangled in a dynasty which seems to be everywhere they turn. The drama taking place is enormous is spatial scale and apparent stakes, and somehow underwhelming in it's most climatic moments. It was a simple enough book featuring simple enough men; the narrator, though something of an academic, didn't claim to be any less simple in character than the rest.

Sometimes a book seems to be taking you too long to read, and it just never gets done. That happens for me a lot; if it looks like I'm not going to finish it within a couple days, I probably never will. Anything for Billy wasn't like that, fortunately. I guess I really wanted to get to what was promised, to find out how it all ended. It was pretty good, not too dense and packaged in the short chapters which could be a reference to the dime novels of which the narrator is so fond.

jamiereadthis's review

3.0

Pure fiction, and pure fun.