McMurtry, Larry

HORSEMAN, PASS BY

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1961 First edition (stated). Original black paper-covered boards over a yellow cloth spine with black titles. Some general sheflwear to the boards, with a bit of mottling to the spine head and along the front gutter.

Presentation copy, inscribed by Larry McMurtry to his friend, Bill Corrington, on the front flyleaf. In his book Literary Life: A Second Memoir (2009), McMurtry wrote, “Certainly the fact that I had two novels in draft already gave me a leg up on my fellow graduate students, with the exception of the prolific John William Corrington, a poet, novelist, and firebrand from Louisiana […] Bill Corrington died young, but not before producing an impressive body of work.”

McMurtry’s debut novel, it portrays life on a cattle ranch from the perspective of young narrator Lonnie Bannon. The book was adapted into the screenplay for the 1963 film Hud, starring Paul Newman as the title character.