Archer City claws into the dusty earth of North Texas with dirty fingernails that hold on for dear life. The hundred-plus-year-old sandstone buildings are crumbling from the constant abuse of wind and weather. The newer buildings with their 1950s and 1960s facades are faded and tired-looking. It is a town on the verge of extinction if not for the few remaining cattle ranches, lethargic oil fields, county government, and the world-famous bookstore owned by its most famous son, Larry McMurtry.
In the weeks leading up to making the nearly 300-mile journey to Archer City, I watched The Last Picture Show and Texasville, and read McMurtry’s latest book, Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen, Reflections at Sixty and Beyond. I loved the first movie, hated the sequel, and enjoyed the book immensely.
I left Austin reminiscing in my mind about the small towns where I grew up and comparing them to McMurtry’s descriptions of his hometown. Without seeing the town for myself I could not have understood the full meaning when he wrote in the book that the 52nd Archer City Rodeo parade “was a rite that had lost its meaning and its vitality.” He was describing the whole town.
On the south side of town, the Dairy Queen looks like any other DQ except for the framed jackets from McMurtry’s books on the walls, and it was vaguely familiar from scenes in Texasville. When I asked for a lime Dr. Pepper, McMurtry’s favorite drink according to Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen, the kid behind the counter was mildly amused. He told me the weirdest drink order was by a woman who asked for cream in her vanilla coke. He didn’t put enough lime in the syrupy soft drink to affect its taste.
McMurtry compares the Dairy Queen to a tavern without alcohol where “rambling men and stay-at-homes” could grab a quick bite to eat or merely sit and mingle for a few minutes, have a cup of coffee or sip a glass of iced tea, sample the gossip of the moment, and leave. It was the ideal place to observe the kind of storytellers that Walter Benjamin said were nearly extinct in an essay published 1936.
Benjamin was lamenting the death of storytellers at a time when radio was young. McMurtry brings the thesis up to date with the damage being done to our collective memories by the modern media. And then the master storyteller proceeds to weave a tale of where he has been on his life’s journey. It is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book about pioneers, living, dying, reading, writing, and storytelling.
The few blocks north of the Dairy Queen along TX 79, the Archer County Courthouse was rather attractive, if not for the orange construction fencing and the steel bracing holding up the west wall. The same kind of plastic fencing surrounds the old jail a block to the north, even though the sign said it was open as the county historical museum. On the corner between the two edifices of county government, a portion of the walls is all that remains of the Royal Theater, where the last picture show was shown. A restoration effort for the theater has stabilized and covered the is all that remains with a tin roof.
The woman at the Spur Hotel on TX 79 says not much remains of the original locations used in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show. Sam the Lion’s pool hall was across the street, but was torn down years ago and is now a vacant lot. Sonny’s Quick Stop in Texasville was at the end of the block, north of the hotel. The 11-room hotel closed in the Sixties and wasn’t reopened until a few years ago, so it never figured into either movie.
Of course, the best reason to drive to Archer City is to visit Larry McMurtry’s Booked Up Inc., Rare and Fine Books. Miles of aisles hold more than 200,000 books in four different buildings spread around the central business district. Unless you are a hardcore book-lover with particular titles in mind or have a lot of time to just wander, then it is easy to feel hopelessly lost.
This is not a half-price book store. Although there are some books in the lower price ranges, most begin at $20 and skyrocket from there. Many of them are first editions or signed by a deceased author. Each book carries a non-negotiable price on the inside cover, most likely penciled in by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author himself.
For longer than he has worked as a noveilist, McMurtry has been a book scout. “Broad knowledge and deep scholarship are to the scout not as important as a passion for the hunt and the energy to keep on hunting …. ” McMurtry writes.
I never got to meet Mr. McMurtry. When I arrived, the lady behind the counter said he had just left, but should be back soon. I waited a good part of the afternoon, but left a small crowd assembling outside of his small office in Building Number 1. I had met the Larry McMurtry in Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen, and I didn’t really want to take the chance of being let down a second time in one day.
Archer City is about 25 miles south of Wichita Falls. Booked Up Inc. opens daily, 10am-5pm, at 216 S. Center St. (TX 79). For information, call 940/547-2511 or BookedUpAC@aol.com. For information on the Spur Hotel or the Lonesome Dove Bed and Breakfast, call 940/574-2501 or go to http://www.spurhotel.com. Check out the Archer City Web site at http://www.archercity.org.
Coming up this weekend …
Viva! Cinco de Mayo in San Marcos celebrates Mexican independence with food, shopping, and entertainment, May 4-6. 512/396-2495 or http://www.vivacincodemayo.org.
Ice Cream Festival in Brenham features tubs of Blue Bell along with other activities in the downtown area, May 6. 979/277-0913.
Coming up …
Tejano/Conjunto Festival in San Antonio offers performances by some of the best groups and stars of this uniquely Texan music style at the Guadalupe Theater and Rosedale Park, May 9-14. 210/271-3151 or http://www.guadalupeculturalarts.org.
Texas Crab Festival at Crystal Beach has fun with crab races, treasure hunt, and crab dish tastings, May 12-14. 409/684-5940.
This article appears in May 5 • 2000.
