John answers “Do I need to read books 1 and 2 of the...”

Wes Martin asked this question about Terms of Endearment:

Do I need to read books 1 and 2 of the Houston series before "Terms of Endearment"? It isn't apparent that this is necessary.

John You can read the book as a stand-alone. What you'll miss, though, is a chance to get to know all the characters. This series of books by Larry McMurtr…moreYou can read the book as a stand-alone. What you'll miss, though, is a chance to get to know all the characters. This series of books by Larry McMurtry is referred to as The Houston Books. They not only all take place mostly in the Houston area, but they involve a cast of characters that appear, to a greater or lesser degree, in all of the books. Emma's friend PatsyCarpenter starts the series with a book of her own, Moving On. Her friends Emma Horton and Danny Deck are introduced in Moving On as well. So is Joe Percy. My memory tells me that Emma's mother, Aurora Greenway, makes a brief appearance, too, but I can't find any documentation for it right now. All of these characters will recur in the following books. Each one actually gets their own book, more or less.

The next book is All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers, which features Danny Deck and Emma Horton, mostly, but also Jill Peel. Jill will get a book of her own later on.

Then we come to Terms of Endearment which features Aurora and Emma as central characters. They both have their own cast of supporting characters. Patsy Carpenter makes an appearance. This is the most famous book in the series since it was made into a hit movie.

Next is Somebody's Darling. This is Jill Peel's book, and Joe Percy, an old Hollywood screenwriter features in it as well. He is also an old friend of Patsy's.

Some Can Whistle is all about Danny Deck and his grown daughter, while Evening Star is about the later years of Aurora Greenway and some of her supporting cast.

So, yes, you can read any of the books as a stand-alone novel, but then you'd be missing out on McMurtry's signature achievement. In these books he follows the lives of a handful of people. He shows how their lives interact, how they form close friendships that fade, and how they deal with the own circumstances. In some ways these books are quite prosaic, because he is trying to be realistic and life is often boring. McMurtry makes the most of things, though, and these books are full of their own rewards. Rarely are characters examined as closely as these people. He shows them in their lives, and by carrying them over a span of books he able to convey how their lives pass through time in a convincing manner.

I recommend you read them all. (less)

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Terms of Endearment

by Larry McMurtry

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