A problem with this site is that the structure of it rewards you for reading a great number of books. (That's not something true only here; people have for centuries bragged about the number of books they read.) [a:Larry McMurtry|1055|Larry McMurtry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1540995857p2/1055.jpg]'s [b:Lonesome Dove|256008|Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove #1)|Larry McMurtry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559668037l/256008.SY75.jpg|3281465] is 945 pages long. I could've read three books or more in the same length of time.
 The copy I read has been around the house forever. It's a mass market paperback printed in 1986 and cost $4.95 then, pretty expensive at the time, and the pages, not acid free, are yellowed and stained. At first, I wanted to splurge for a better copy, but as read further into it, having an aged copy felt right.
 I've never had an interest in the cowboy genre, which is most of the reason I've put off reading this for so many years despite hearing raves. I can only quote a blurb from USA Today in one of the front pages: "If you read only one western novel in your life, read Lonesome Dove."
 I have zero interest in Texas in 1875, or ranching, or traveling from Texas to Montana. And yet, there's nothing I can say about it I haven't heard many times, like as long as it is, I wish it were longer. No matter how much I like a book I'm reading these days, I'm usually happy to finish it, but in this case, it's like someone I really liked stayed with me for over a month and then left.