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The Desert Rose
The Desert Rose: A Novel | Larry McMurtry
3 posts | 5 read | 3 to read
Pulitzer Prize-winner Larry McMurtry writes novels set in the American heartland, but his real territory is the heart itself. His gift for writing about women -- their love for reckless, hopeless men; their ability to see the good in losers; and their peculiar combination of emotional strength and sudden weakness -- makes The Desert Rose the bittersweet, funny, and touching book that it is. Harmony is a Las Vegas showgirl. At night she's a lead dancer in a gambling casino; during the day she raises peacocks. She's one of a dying breed of dancers, faced with fewer and fewer jobs and an even bleaker future. Yet she maintains a calm cheerfulness in that arid neon landscape of supermarkets, drive-in wedding chapels, and all-night casinos. While Harmony's star is fading, her beautiful, cynical daughter Pepper's is on the rise. But Harmony remains wistful and optimistic through it all. She is the unexpected blossom in the wasteland, the tough and tender desert rose. Hers is a loving portrait that only Larry McMurtry could render.
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JanuarieTimewalker13
The Desert Rose: A Novel | Larry McMurtry
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The protagonist, Harmony, is a single mom showgirl working at the Stardust in Vegas. The characters in this book range from sweet (Harmony) to real creeps and everything in between. Book was written in 1983, the sequel, The Late Child, published 12 years later in 1995. Im picking up sequel bc I want to see how this plays out. #Vegas

Leftcoastzen I love McMurtry but haven‘t read this one or the sequel 8mo
JanuarieTimewalker13 @Leftcoastzen From what I gather, they‘re not well loved. I‘ve only read this and Loop Group. I haven‘t read his best stuff yet. I will! 8mo
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