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Reviews 65 the fact that the expositional glue has been removed from the book and that its scenes are presented as a series of brief cinematic “takes,” most of which have the epiphanic quality of a lyric poem. I would respond, however, that western novelists (and American novelists in general) could use much more of Woiwode’s willingness to experiment. Another objection might be that Woiwode’s religiosity, which usually makes itself felt subtly and effectively, is sometimes a little heavy-handed (the book’sscenes, for example, are all divided by a single cross).Still, for all its aesthetic quirkiness, this isa major contempor­ ary novel, one whose force and narrative daring make it deserving of the widest possible readership. KENNETH C. MASON Bellevue College Anything for Billy. ByLarry McMurtry (New York:Simon and Schuster, 1988. 382 pages, $18.95.) Readers familiar with the actual—insofar as it isknown or actual—history of William H. Bonney, Billy the Kid, will doubtless be frustrated by this fictional account of the infamous and cold-blooded killer. McMurtry’s char­ acter of focus, Billy Bone, is, however, no less charming and affable and no less bloody and careless of violent crime than the historical original. And this newest account of events in New Mexico Territory in the early 1880s is likely no more fantastic than so many of the “authorized” histories of the conflicts surrounding the Lincoln County War. There is no question, however, that it is better written, just as there is no question that this newest offering from McMurtry’s typewriter will cause a minor cyclone of controversy over precisely what the Pulitzer Prize Winner and enfant terrible cum hero of Texas letters isup to. Billy’s story is told by Benjamin Sippy, an independently wealthy author of dime novels who ventures west in search of actuality and becomes friends with Billy. He meets the outlaw somewhat by accident and then deliberately follows him as Billy’s reputation builds through many of his latter-day adven­ tures that ultimately culminate in his death. Sippy is more than itinerant and literate observer, however. Billy’s story also becomes his story, and the cast of colorful characters who populate the desolation of the Pecos Valley and Lin­ coln County round out a seriocomic look at a dying West filled to capacity with dying men who try constantly to live up to their larger-than-life reputations. Those whose discovery of McMurtry’s fiction began with Lonesome Dove and who hope for another account of the Old West, laden with actuality and gritty realism, deep characters and emotionally laden descriptions, will likely be disappointed in this book. McMurtry indulges himself here with the themes 66 Western American Literature and ideas which have long been important to his fiction, and virtual signatures for his style. But there is an important difference: Anything for Billy shows a serious maturity, a greater confidence of position, and a deeper relationship of themes and ideas than any previous work; and those who have followed his career from Horseman, Pass By through this newest work will be excited to see a fulfillment of potential that has long been called for. This book takes on many of the preconceptions about the Western novel and exposes them for the manu­ factured shams they are. In sum, by deliberately ignoring facts and figures, McMurtry shows that the most important thing about any story, Western or otherwise, is the story itself. There is realism here, violence as well, but it emerges with a casualness that befits such happenings as they occurred in history; murder and mayhem aren’t sensational until writers make them so. There is also comedy here, but the wild absurdities of Texasville and self-indulgent hyperbole of Cadillac Jack are thankfully absent, as are the sprawling running jokes of Lonesome Dove. Here McMurtry has taken a page from others such as Robert Altman and John Huston, Thomas Berger, Clifford Irving, and even Mark Twain by creating an entertaining novel based less on historical fact or established legend than on the richness of fictional character and fertile imagination of a first class novelist. CLAY REYNOLDS University of North Texas Tracks. By Louise...

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