Larry McMurtry's second installment in his planned trilogy of memoirs, "Literary Life", was about as disappointing as I expected it to be, especially after last year's "Books". It was incredibly short and didn't discuss his writing career at all, really. It was mostly disjointed ramblings about people he knew whose names I don't recognize. The one thing I took away from it was that he thinks "Duane's Depressed" is a better novel than "Lonesome Dove". Really, Larry? Really? That's the strangest thing I've ever heard in my life. It's really a shame because he has been around so long and has led such a fascinating life that his memoirs would be sure to be a hoot and a half, if done properly.
"L.A. Noir" by John Buntin was amazing--history brought to life. I was really looking forward to this one after reading "A Bright and Guilty Place", and it didn't disappoint. He boiled down the sprawling urban center that is Los Angeles by telling the more intimate story of two of its most interesting and polar opposite residents: former police chief Bill Parker and notorious gangster Mickey Cohen. The story of how Parker took what was arguably the most corrupt police department in America and turned it into his own vision of military precision and elitism is fantastic, and the anecdotes about the colorful Cohen are charming. Great read.
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