Rhino Ranch - (Thalia Trilogy) by Larry McMurtry (Paperback)

About the Book

In this novel of love and regret, McMurtry bids a final farewell to his beloved character, Duane Moore, and the rapidly changing town of Thalia, Texas.

Book Synopsis

In his signature, elegiac prose, Larry McMurtry bids a heartfelt farewell to Duane Moore and the transformative town of Thalia, Texas, in Rhino Ranch, the concluding novel of the Duane Moore saga.

Returning home after a near-fatal heart attack, Duane arrives in Thalia to find his once-dusty oil patch town transformed. His new neighbor, resilient billionaire K.K. Slater, has established Rhino Ranch, a wildlife nature preserve dedicated to preserving endangered black rhinos on former ranchland.

Feeling estranged from the world he helped build, Duane reflects on past loves, fading opportunities, and the shifting values of a small-town America in flux. As he observes the convergence of wildlife conservation, economic change, and new romantic possibilities with K.K., he's forced to grapple with loss, memory, and identity.

With humor, warmth, and bittersweet wisdom, Rhino Ranch elegantly closes the Duane Moore series. It's a moving American literary fiction journey rooted in Texas tradition, exploring themes of aging, family legacy, and the endurance of spirit.

Review Quotes

"[Duane] and his friends in the fictional Texas town of Thalia made me laugh and nearly made me cry, and they made me think about life..."--Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"A droll and poignant dramedy, Rhino Ranch is a near-perfect coda to the minor masterwork of Texas's greatest novelist."
--Texas Monthly

"Nobody depicts the complexities of smalltown Texas life and the frailties of human relationships better than McMurtry."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

About the Author

Larry McMurtry (1936-2021) was the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove, three memoirs, two collections of essays, and more than thirty screenplays. He lived in Archer City, Texas.