Larry McMurtry’s novel “The Last Picture Show” put the spotlight on his hometown Archer City.
The fictional town is called “Thalia” in the book and “Anarene” in the film of the same name, but the parallels to Archer City and its characters couldn’t be ignored.
The unvarnished, and sometimes unflattering, portrayal of small-town life is what made the work so groundbreaking.
It’s also what made the book, film and the late author himself polarizing among the locals.
“Sixty years after the book was published, the town still smarts,” said George Getschow, executive director of the Larry McMurtry Literary Center.
“Almost everyone in town were scandalized by Larry's portrayal of his hometown. … To portray these characters and the town as being as narrow-minded, materialistic, having affairs galore, it ran totally contrary to the image that Archer City wanted to portray to the world.”
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the novel, booklovers and residents will have the opportunity to watch the film and listen to a panel discussion in the city that inspired it all.
The panel will include Getschow, Greg Giddings, an English professor at Midwestern State University and screenwriter Paula Goldberg. Doug King, a screenwriter and novelist, will moderate.
Details: Film screening and panel discussion, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at the Royal Theater, 113 East Main St. Archer City. Free. 60th anniversary editions of The Last Picture Show will be available to purchase.
Got a tip? Email Marcheta Fornoff at mfornoff@kera.org.
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