The Late Child

By Larry McMurtry and Jo Brand

Book Overview

An unforgettable addition to his widely acclaimed body of work, The Late Child is Larry McMurtry's tender, funny, and poignant sequel to The Desert Rose--McMurtry delivers another rich cast of characters and a heartfelt, bittersweet story that unfolds on the open road, in one woman's search for strength, understanding, and hope.

Harmony is the optimistic, resilient Las Vegas ex-showgirl who returns home one day to the news that her beloved daughter, Pepper, has died of AIDS. In an effort to come to grips with her loss, she decides she must travel to New York City, where her daughter had been living, to understand Pepper's life leading up to her death. She manages to stay afloat, buoyed by her precocious five-year-old son, Eddie, and her two outspoken sisters as they set forth on a journey across the country, seeking answers about her daughter's death.

From Nevada to New York to Oklahoma, the eccentrics Harmony and her entourage meet nudge them closer to an inner peace with life, and a way to find hope in the future. Alive with inventive storytelling and honest emotion, The Late Child is a warm, enriching experience that celebrates the unique relationship between mother and child.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743222547
• ISBN13: 9780743222549
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

"We choose our lovers by their flaws"...

The best way to read this sequel is immediately after reading its prequel;"The Desert Rose".The surprising thing is that McMurtry wrote "The Desert Rose" in 1983 and "The Late Child " didn't come out till 1995. That's a long wait! Again, this story continued along the same path.Even more so, the thought processes of the characters reminded me of the characters in many of Erskine Caldwell's novels;the most well known being "Tobacco Road" and "God's Little Acre". McMurtry's immagination never seems to slow down and you are presented with one wild thing after another,with each turn of a page. The chapters are very short,many only a couple of pages;but he puts more in one of those short chapters than most writers put in 30 or 40 page chapters. This book has a plethora of great lines;for example: "Your standards are the standards of a doormat." "Dick don't have enough imagination to get lonely." "Rog don't have a speed-neutral ain't a speed." "That's how I feel,I just don't know how to live." "Stuck in the driver's seat and the car was moving, but she had no map and no idea of where she was supposed to go." "The fact is,it's a living death,and I've lived as long as I can." "It ain't hard to die when you've already stopped living." This has been a great read,and I hope Larry is working on a trilogy;Lord knows he has created enough characters who would be fun to follow.However,please don't make us wait another 12 years.

McMurtry Celebrates Humanity

Once again, Larry McMurtry writes with such unabashed compassion for people, warts and all, that I came away uplifted. This book is a perfect example of how McMurtry is the antidote to the Dr. Laura-style judgementalism which permeates our culture. In this book, McMurtry collects flawed folks, eloquently and humorously describes their mistakes and insecurities, then loves them anyway. When I'm in an over-critical mood, reading a McMurtry book is just the attitude adjustment I need.

Different is good sometimes......

This book is different from McMurtry's other work. Accept it, and enjoy it for what it is. Some of the characters Harmony meets in her travels are hilarious. The three "ragheads" she meets in New York are adorable. In the past, you just couldn't trust McMurtry. You form a relationship with his characters, and he knocks them off. Not this time. Take it to the beach; you can't put it down. Sections are laugh-out-loud funny.

unique + great

Some may be disppointed by the differences between this and some older McMurtry books, but I found a couple important things in common: - the book drew me in, kept my attention, and was entertaining throughout - there were some great characters (Harmony, her son Eddie, and her father) along with some other unusual but mostly interesting ones I had really liked The Desert Rose (the first of this 2 book series) but I even enjoyed this book more. At the end I hated to be done reading about these characters.

Classic McMurtry: good story and characters whom you'll miss

A nice sequel to The Desert Rose. In Harmony, the central character, McMurtry reveals someone who is so full of warmth, so open with her fears and misgivings and just so real that I found myself missing her when I finished the book. Of course, that's frequently effect that his main characters have upon me. I did feel, however, that he tried to juggle a few too many characters -- some of them were pretty lame. On the whole though, it is an enjoyable story with creative plot twists