From the Bookshelf of Bookmarks Subscribers …

Despite McMurtry's well-deserved reputation as a writer, including a Pulitzer Prize and more than a handful of best sellers, critics are unsure about his latest effort. They cite it as an uneven volume that glosses over some important characters and anecdotes (or, conversely, delves a bit too much into the details of book collecting) and doesn't advance its purported mission of offering a "memoir" of the reticent author's life in books. Some of the vignettes seem to have been dashed off almost a

Despite McMurtry's well-deserved reputation as a writer, including a Pulitzer Prize and more than a handful of best sellers, critics are unsure about his latest effort. They cite it as an uneven volume that glosses over some important characters and anecdotes (or, conversely, delves a bit too much into the details of book collecting) and doesn't advance its purported mission of offering a "memoir" of the reticent author's life in books. Some of the vignettes seem to have been dashed off almost as an afterthought, though McMurtry's style can be an acquired taste. Still, even if Books doesn't transcend its limited subject matter and won't win over many readers not already familiar with McMurtry's story, devotees will enjoy digging alongside the bookman, thrilling to the next great discovery.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.