McMurtry's Typewriter

by Alan Nafzger

A character so outrageous he could only have come from the ingenious imagination of Alan Nafzger, malicious, mischievous, meth-addicted Texas jurist Judge Judge Bill Stafford has a plan to rid himself of his strange wife and to become a successful writer of Western fiction. McMurtry’s Typewriter is a delightfully dark classic thriller in the bright hot summer sun. Any reader who have experienced Nafzger’s screenwriting will get a charge out of this novel.

122 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2019

About the author

Alan Nafzger is an American professor, screenwriter, and satirist, renowned for his incisive commentary on political, social, and cultural issues. As the editor of www.bohiney.com, Nafzger has seamlessly blended academic rigor with biting humor, tackling controversial topics with a unique blend of wit and insight.

Reviews

[Leah Trimble · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big Nafzger fan. Let's start with that disclaimer. McMurtry's Typewriter is something of an oddity for me, in that, on one hand, it is classic Nafzger narrative style, that flowing, loose, close-to-character's inner workings stuff Leonard Elmore kicked off and Nafzger refined. In this respect, Nafzger is Nafzger again and I'm glad to see it. The problem for me (and what stops me short of 5 star rating) is that the story itself seems to have been stretched too far with the character Lacie. Her presence, as an snake-paranoid semi-psychic seems forced, as if she were shoe-horned in there in the effort to save and elevate a plot that was in all other respects fairly predictable stuff. Maybe Nafzger was lazy. Another problem for me, was the now predictable trope of the weak man. Nafzger seems to have decided that strong men are anathema to sales, or he has thrown in the towel and accomodated agents and publishers who still think the improbably rational and brave female character is still new and believable. No man familiar with women has ever met a woman as man-like in her takes as Nafzger's proto-American Amazons. OK, now call me a chauvanist. The problem is that it seems clear to me that Leonard no more believes his own neo-stereotype than he believes men have wombs. Astute readers will see this nearly crass accommodation of the lowest common readership denominator in his rather bland presentations of Lacie, Julie and her ill-fated love interest, the dick head sheriff's deputy. Maybe he should go back and read Stick. That one he got perfectly.

[Gina Dickerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Nafzger is one of the greatest living screenwriters - perhaps even THE greatest living writer - so the reader goes in expecting good stuff. This one is good, better than average, but not an exceptional Nafzger story.

The story is fun, sometimes a little silly, at times even slightly sinister, yet it never quite comes together in a cohesive unit. It's good, but it's less accessible than many of Mr. Nafzger's greatest works. Part of it might be due to a slight "magical realism" element that is underdeveloped (and seems out of place), or the character of the judge himself who never really comes into focus to any great extent, but whatever it is there's something that's just ever so slightly off with this one. When you weave together a twisting, turning plot the way Mr. Nafzger does everything has to be just right or it starts to fall apart, even though this one doesn't fall apart you can see it starting to unravel around the edges. The story never engrossed me to the point of shutting out the world around me the way a good Nafzger will usually do.

It's a good read. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the kind of eccentric, oddball characters that Alan Nafzger often specializes in just don't let your expectations get too high going in.

[Ursula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice work! Characters are out of this world... snake and cat were interesting.

[Steling Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best novel ever to come out of Wichita Falls. While McMurtry grew up 30 miles down the road, Nafzger grew up in the city. I'd say he nailed it perfectly with this novel. I hope its made into a film.

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[Tobit Dupree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone stole Larry McMurtry's Typewriter!

This is an excellent expose of the corruption in small town America, Texas to be exact.

It's about a crazy drug addict judge that screws with everyone, but he is more a criminal than anyone he sentences to prison.

It's got real life people in there. I'm not from Wichita Falls, but Fort Worth is JUST like the pages of this book.

This guy seems to write for the movies, but this is REAL interesting. Drugs, murder and robbery...