Lonesome Dove

By: Larry McMurtry

Narrated by: Lee Horsley

Length: 36 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize- winning classic, Lonesome Dove, the third book in the Lonesome Dove tetralogy, is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America.

Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome Dove and meet an unforgettable assortment of heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Indians and settlers. Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove will make listeners laugh, weep, dream, and remember.

This newly remastered audio edition is expertly read by actor Lee Horsley, best known for his starring roles in the television series Nero Wolfe, Matt Houston, and Paradise.

©1985 Larry McMurtry (P)1992 / 2016 Dove Audio / Phoenix Books

The Book Is Superb, The Narrator Is Bad

This is one of the great books of the twentieth century. It's everything you want in a novel. The narrator is hard to listen. He reads too fast, his accent is too pronounced, and he’s wheezy. Sounds like an old smoker trying to get his breath between every sentence.

Grover Gardner would be the PERFECT narrator for Lonesome Dove.

Please re-record Audible!

Superb!

I read this book back in the day but it was in the early 80s I suppose. My father was a western star and I remember reading this book and thinking he was the perfect Augustus McRae. Rereading this book since my father passed who is poignant and it was like listening to my father speak for 36 hours. He would’ve been the best Augustus McRae, Better than Robert Duvall I dare say. Anyway, I digress this book deserves every accolade and the performance is absolutely beyond brilliant.

The Great American Epic

Wow. I spent about a third of this book with tears streaming down my face, and I’m not a man that cries lightly. It’s so huge in scale and cast but somehow so intimate in its characterization that I fell to love all the characters and weep with them through their hardships. Despite the tragedies and rough lives these people live, though, there’s also a sort of wholesomeness and purity to their joys, pains, and dreams. Not quite like anything else I’ve read. It deserves a place alongside both the Greek Epics and the American classics as a mythos that encapsulates an era and a tapestry of iconic characters.

Literally the Best

What the Odyssey is for the Greeks and Lord of the Rings is for Britain, Lonesome Dove is for The United States. One of the best fiction books I've ever read and this audiobook performance is flawless to go along with it. Perfect score.

Whaaaattt?

This recording, though artfully spoke, is incredibly hard to hear. I had to have my headphones twice as loud for it as I did other apps. Turns out tinnitus is also available on the trail.

ABSOLUTELY a joy to listen to!!!

I was intimidated at first by the length. Quickly changed my mind into wishing it was even longer. So so so good!!!!

Amazing doesn’t do it justice

The performance is perfect and the story is epic in every sense of the word. I have loved this tale since watching the miniseries in my childhood but was nervous about starting such a long book. However, I did not want it to end!

A brilliant narrator with a hundred voices

I am perplexed that some listeners have complained about Lee Horsley's performance. The man was brilliant, doing myriad voices both male and female in a way that kept them all distinct. It seems as if the level of Gus' voice was a specific issue and yet the characters in the book itself comment on how it is too big a voice for a little room. I found the characterization absolutely perfect and the story for the most part engrossing though could easily have lived without the clueless Sheriff July Johnson and his faithless wife. The other main characters, and even those who appeared merely for a chapter or two -- like Janey -- remain absolutely memorable. And the depiction of the physical world of the country between Texas and Montana was so vivid I feel as if I have now seen it. I am not a huge McMurtry fan but I did love this book.

excellent

fabulous creative writing excellent narration completely entertaining from beginning to end loved every moment

Don’t Hesitate

It’s long but it sure is good. I got to the last 6 hours and tried to pace myself and not rush it. Just a beautifully written and spoken book. My father in law loved this book. I was skeptical because of the subject matter and length. I bought it one night on a whim and thinking about my father in law. He passed the next day unfortunately. So I did have him in my mind throughout this book and that helped. This book definitely stands on its own. It is perfect.