by Patricia Dalton

Created on: February 08, 2008   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

Larry McMurtry

It's 107 degrees, according to the electric sign at the bank. I try to ignore the heat, but when even your knees are sweating, it's hard not to notice.

I'm walking down to the Oodles Supermart, in Archer City, Texas, to get fresh batteries for my camera to take pictures at the Harvest House Cafe.
I had gone into the diner to get a Coke, and as I waited in the red Naugahyde booth, it was like slipping back in time. I half expected to see characters from "The Last Picture Show" Larry McMurtry's scandalous book about his hometown.

I get my batteries and walk back up the street, disturbing the same dogs, that I had on the walk down.
At the Harvest House though, the customer mix has changed, with out-of-towners now outnumbering locals.
That's OK though, because I'm really here to visit the bookstore- his bookstore.
Archer City Texas, like many small American towns is situated around a beautiful stone courthouse. And like many other small American towns, it has lost most of its business and traffic.

So Larry McMurtry, Oscar winner, author of "The Last Picture Show" and Pulitzer Prize winning "Lonesome Dove" and many other books and screenplays, took several of his bookstores scattered across the country, and brought them home to Texas.
Now four separate buildings called "Booked Up" 1 through 4 surround the 1892 sandstone courthouse, in what were empty storefronts.

There are more than 300,000 books, arranged "Erratically/Impressionistically/Whimsically" and a complete list does not exist, according to the Frequently Asked Questions page of the Archer City website.

As I walk into Booked Up #2, there is a sign which asks you to check all backpacks and bags, but there is no one there to take them, or to bother you at all. Book browsing as it's meant to be, just the musty smell of time and old books.

Booked Up, states that it deals in Fine, Rare and Scholarly Books, in addition to everything from African Studies to books on Traffic and Transportation. In fact you might find just about any title, with the exception of Larry McMurtry books. He doesn't sell any of his own titles. If you want one of his many titles, you'll have to go to "Three Dog Books", a sort of ancillary store, conveniently located between "Booked Up #4" and the historic Royal theater. If the theater seems familiar, it's because it the movie house from "The Last Picture Show" and it's sequel, "Texasville" which were both filmed here.

It's easy to spend a whole day here, wandering from building to building.

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