Buffalo Girls [Paperback]

McMurtry's "westerns" are usually big sprawling sages, brimming with great characters, over-flowing with plot developments, packed with humor and tragedy. They make you feel the openness of America's west. In such novels as Dead Man's Walk or The Berrybender Narratives, we get a sense of what the west was like just as white men began to explore it. We see it through the eyes of simple folk, usually, as well as through the Indians. We understand how each side views the other. We understand how cruel the land and circumstance can be.

Other books, such as Streets of Laredo, show the west as still wild but becoming ever more tame. The Indians are less and less of a threat, towns are growing, the "wild" people who inhabited the land are feeling cramped. The buffalo and beaver are gone.

BUFFALO GIRLS fits into the latter category. But the books I mentioned above are different in a couple of key ways. 1) they are longer and more ambitious in scope, 2) paradoxically, the feel more controlled and unified in vision. BUFFALO GIRLS has a smaller cast than most McMurtry sagas, and the time frame covered (except for a hasty final couple of chapters) is fairly short. Yet by the end we feel as though we've kinda slopped all over the place.

Don't get me wrong, there is much to admire. Good characters (Calamity Jane is the "hero" of the book, but she often takes a back seat in the narrative, almost completely disappearing for chapters at a time) are here. Especially good is No Ears, the elderly Indian who remembers the old times and now has no real place among his own kind, so he hangs on with Jane and her male friends...old trappers, scouts and early settlers. He's well thoughout out, sympathetic and funny. We also have Dora DuFran, Jane's great friend who runs a saloon/brothel, and her long-time love, Blue, a man she shares great passions with, but can't get him to marry her. Another key character is Buffalo Bill. The book shows us how his famous show is put together, and paints Bill as a sympathic character.

The best part of the book comes in the middle. Jane and her friends, including No Ears, sign on to the Wild West show, and take an ocean voyage to England. Their experiences in England are terrific fun...well-written, imaginative and full of unexpected turns. There are some scenes at the London Zoo, of all places, that are lovely.

So, while the book has much to offer, it is also weighed down by a nearly constant state of sadness. All the characters are constantly thinking about their own deaths. Some DO die, of course, it wouldn't be a McMurtry book otherwise. But there's a mood of deep despair over the book, and while I admire McMurtry for creating this mood, it isn't always the most pleasant thing to endure. I found that unlike many of his other books, this one wasn't hard to put down. It's heavy going, because of the mood, and McMurtry's somewhat slopping pacing. When you're done, you feel like you've read a book twice as long.

I do recommend the book for fans of McMurtry. Even his lesser efforts are worthwhile. However, if you're new to McMurtry and want to try him...don't start here. Try the Lonesome Dove sage, preferably from the first book. You won't be sorry you did.

I really liked this book, but it made me depressed. It was anything but predictible, and the book was great... but the movie, let me put it this way... SUCKED! It did not follow the book whatsoever. The book is a helluva lot better. Don't waste your time on the movie if you're planning on seeing it. If you liked anything that Larry McMurtry has written you'll like this one.

This review refers to the Audio Cassette Book (Unabridged,Simon and Schuster)Edition of "Buffalo Girls" by Larry McMurtry and read by Betty Buckley. Reviews are mixed together. This audio book has the ISBN of :0671727818.

I found "Buffalo Girls" to be a most enjoyable listen. Although it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I loved the characters and hated to leave them when the book was finished. I liked it enough though, that somewhere down the line, I will listen to it again.

This novel interweaves famous historical figures, places and events with stories of great friendships and life at a time when the Wild West was becoming a bit more civilized. Calamity Jane, more subdued in her mid-life years, writes letters to her daughter Jane about her colorful life, pals and travels. Her friend Dora DuFran runs a brothel, but always has a room ready and waiting for her beloved Calamity. Their friendship is long and true. They consider themselves, probably the last of the "Buffalo Girls". Calamity also reminisces of her love for Wild Bill(dead for sometime now), adventures with traveling buddies, Jim Ragg (who's love for hunting beaver is his main focus on life), Bartle Bone and "No Ears" an old Indian with great foresight. Now all in their older years(and Calamity on a long drinking binge), they join up with Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull, and head to England on a great ship to perform in Cody's Wild West Show, the last great adventure of their lives.

I have always enjoyed stories of the Wild West and the legends that lived it. Calamity has been one of my favorites, and there have been so many different interpertations of this woman who defied the expectations of womanhood in the 19th century. Most recently I have come to love the Calamity on "Deadwood", and have a feeling, that that Jane comes closest to the real deal. If you have seen it , you know she is not exactly glorified. So when I first started listening to Betty Buckley, she seemed too feminine and too sweet to be Jane. I also was expecting a more adventurous storline. But I have to say, considering the fact the this Jane is older, maybe a litttle tired, and more reflective of life, that Miss Buckley was an excellent choice. And the storyline as well was one more of the love between these friends, and the strong bonds developed over the years.There are also some great touches of humor sure to bring a smile. As other have said, the ending is totally unexpected, but this is afterall a novel, and you wouldn't want it to be totally predictable.

There are 8 cassettes with a total running time of 12 hours to get completely involved with the characters and McMurtry takes you on a wonderfully descriptive trip back in time. The quality and sound is excellent, and I loved the Western folk songs and the lonesome cowboy harmonica playing at the end of each side.

So I would say if you are looking for an action-adventure packed type of Western, you should probably pass this one by. But if you love tales of these legendary, bigger then life figures, and want a new take on them, this book is perfect.

Saddle Up with Calamity Jane once more, Happy Trails, and enjoy the read....Laurie