3 of 4 people found the following review helpful: SO MANY MEN, SO LITTLE TIME, September 1, 2008 By Bookworm (St. George Utah) - See all my reviewsLarry McMurtrys Telegraph Days give us a glimpse of the old west from a woman's perspective. The woman in question is a 22 year old Virginia native, Nellis Courtright who with her 17 year old brother, Jackson, resides in the town of Rio Blanca, a nothing little place located in an area known as "no mans land". The towns tenuous claim to fame comes from a gunfight in which Jackson, through sheer luck, kills six members of the infamous Yazee Gang. Nellie is a self-sufficient, unique and assertive women who captializes on her brothers feat by writing a pamphlet describing the event and selling it for 25 cents a copy. This is the beginning of an adventure that takes the reader from the dusty streets of the Oklahoma panhandle in the mid 1870's to the early days of Hollywood. Nellie is an amorous gal but lacks a discriminating eye when it comes to the opposite sex. She finds herself attracted to any number of gents, some of whom are legends of the untamed old west. McMurtry manages to deftly weave actual historical figures like George Custer, Bill Hickock, Billy the Kid, Virgil Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Jesse James into the various threads of Nellies life as she pursues fame and fortune in various careers ranging from telegraph operator to secretary/manager for Buffalo Bills Nebraska holdings to storyteller/author and finally to Hollywood screenwriter. Larry McMurtry obviously loves the character and flavor of the old west and is able to realistically convey it's sights, sounds and smells. He seems to be particularly fascinated by its women. In this book, as in Buffalo Girls, his female characters are rarely run of the mill. Instead he chooses to portray them as "a hardy breed of survivors - - strong, organized, in control and rarely repentent. This latest heroine, Nellie Courtright, a "ladylike" pipe smoker could easily be the poster child for a group called "The Society of Willful Western Women".
I was surprised, when I read this book, at how truly boring it was, given the good reviews it had received. I am guessing that the reviewers were reminiscing more on the quality of McMurtry's 'Lonesome Dove' than on the quality of the writing in this particular novel. The book began well enough, and the main character of Nellie started off full of mouth and grit. However, there was no character development, the woman's mouth and spunk became annoying over time and the character remained shallow. There were so many places that McMurtry could have taken this character - but as a man writing from a woman's perspective, McMurtry took her to the place where so many men want a woman to be - having promiscuous sexual dalliances and cleaning up men's messes. There was no recognizable plot, with the narrative appearing simply to be a forum for McMurtry to "name drop" every cowboy or outlaw hero from that period of the west, from Buffalo Bill to Wild Bill. The author overstretched himself in places simply to include a famous character (e.g. Jesse James or Billy the Kid) whose presence did nothing to further develop or improve upon the story. About 2/3 through the book it becomes abundantly clear that McMurtry has become as sick of the character of Nellie as the reader has, and he ups the pace, skipping years and even decades with the flourish of a pen where initially the pace of the narrative was measured and slow. Characters who could have had some importance to the story are named once and forgotten, and only those with a name worth dropping are discussed further. I kept waiting for something to happen. It didn't. The ending did nothing to round off the story. The final chapter simply ended like any other chapter - I turned the page, having no indication from the author that this was the end, and there was simply nothing more. I admit to feeling disappointed that I wasted my time reading toward something epic, as the book had initially seemed to promise - and that something even mildly fascinating never came.
What do You think about Telegraph Days (2006)?
This book started with great potential; a young man and woman who descended from minor gentry in Virginia find themselves alone in the West. The first few chapters are pretty entertaining, although you get a nagging worry as Nellie keeps mentioning famous historical figures who she dated. You think, "Oh, that'll probably go away" and keep reading.But nope, the last two thirds of the book is an endless procession of celebrity cameos; many of them pointless. For example, she's on a train with a rare pearl, and Jesse James shows up to rob her. She sticks the pearl in her vajayjay, explains this to Jesse, and he then tips his hat to her and leaves. WTF?On the plus side, the audiobook is excellent, and kept me entertained far longer than the paper book would have.
—John Strohm
This was a very entertaining book to read, but had one weaknesses. The novel is not plot driven. There is action is several chapters, but there is no on going quest or peril. I will admit I am not being fair to "Telegraph Days" for judging it like this. I've read many books that were more character driven and loved them, but with this being only the second western I've read, I was expecting more. However, the book still had many strengths. Nellie was easy to listen too, and the characters were believable, interesting and it was because of them I was willing to invest time in reading "Telegraph Days". After reading this book I now think of Buffalo Bill as someone who branded the Wild West and shaped how we see it even today. While the West was being built, he created its myth. The book certainly made me interested in learning more about Buffalo Bill and what his true story is. As a graphic designer I'm always thinking how many aspects of our lives is about branding, and according to this fictional book, so was Buffalo Bill.My favorite part of the book was the first paragraph, chapter 13 of the Tombstone Days section. This is where Nellie parts wisdom with ..."I had never been one to suffer fools gladly, but the main thing I learned, in the end, was not to insist on too lofty ideals. If you want to be part of a human community you have to suffer fools– patiently, if not gladly– and you must practice civility as best you can... the tribe of human beings is never likely to be crowded with Aristotles." Those are wise words I need to live by, but they're also an example of Larry McMurtry's wit that is causing me to fall in love with his writing.
—Deborah
Two and a half, kids. This needs two and a half stars. I'm a big McMurtry fan because (1) he wrote Lonesome Dove, which is a goddamn masterpiece, (2) his plots usually revolve around either the Wild West-era days or bumfuck Texas, both of which are near and dear to my heart, and (3) only McCarthy can beat his writing voice, which is always simple and spare and very true to the language of his setting. This book was no exception: the only flaws I had with it were plot-wise. Overall, the book was pretty boring. There's no real plot, except to chronicle the misadventures of Nellie Courtwright, a young woman bouncing around through No Man's Land in the Wild West days who ends up interacting with some of the biggest legends of the era -- Jesse James, Buffalo Bill and Wyatt Earp, just to name a few.Nellie herself is a delight, clever and strong-willed and sassy without feeling anachronistic. The book is narrated by her and McMurtry gets into the female voice in a way I never questioned. And the writing was as simple and full of the Western-appropriate slang and details (I cracked up at the fact that every time Nellie found another lover, they immediately got engaged) that McMurtry is so great at. But in the end, the watch-as-Nellie-wanders-around-and-gets-into-little-adventures plot felt disjointed and uninteresting.
—Kim
