Buffalo Girls

By Larry McMurtry

Book Overview

In a letter to her daughter back East, Martha Jane is not shy about her own importance: "Martha Jane -- better known as Calamity -- is just one of the handful of aging legends who travel to London as part of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show in Buffalo Girls. As he describes the insatiable curiosity of Calamity's Indian friend No Ears, Annie Oakley's shooting match with Lord Windhouveren, and other highlights of the tour, McMurtry turns the story of a band of hardy, irrepressible survivors into an unforgettable portrait of love, fellowship, dreams, and heartbreak.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067168518X
• ISBN13: 9780671685188
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 351 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

The end of the frontier

We are in the last part of the 19th Century in this novel, and the Wild West has breathed its last. The book is peopled with real legends (Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull) and fictional curiosities (Jim Ragg and Bartle Bone - two Mountain Men, and No Ears - an Indian with exceptional eyesight). McMurtry relates a sad, elegiac farewell to times past. The ever-interesting characters and their views of the world, which are wise and funny and fascinating, make the novel top-notch in the McMurtry canon.

Calamity Jane And The End Of The Wild West Era

Once again Larry McMurtry delivers the goods in this tale of The Old West . We are introduced to Calamity Jane who spends a lot of time writing letters to her daughter by the light of a campfire. Calamity Jane joins a Western Touring Company and the sea voyage to America is particularly memorable. There is also another character worth mentioning, namely a Native American called No Ears who views the world in terms of deep philosophical thought. Towards the end of the book we see Calamity Jane lamenting her lost youth and sadly reflects on the Glory Days of the Old West that she was once a part of. Larry McMurtry has writen a fine novel with a real, believable female character which is something most writers in this genre are unable to accomplish.Another wondrous tale from a Master Of His Craft.

IT WAS A GREAT BOOK, BUT NOT NEAR AS GOOD A LONESOME DOVE

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.

A very enjoyable book.

McMurty makes the characters in this book come alive. You particularly develop a fondness for Calamity Jane. This book takes an insightful look at the Wild West as it becomes a civilized place. All in all, Buffalo Girls is worth a look for anyone who enjoys stories about the West.

funny, sad, haunting--vintage McMurtry

Realistic, funny, sad, moving, stays with you. All the reasons I keep reading McMurtry, even re-reading, every chance I get. Will move you to tears at the end, completely unexpected. Thought about it and thought about it afterwards. Where does he get his knowledge of women? It never ceases to amaze me, from Calamity Jane to Aurora Greenway, he never misses. A MUST READ for anyone who loves a good story with real people.