Thomas Francis McGuane III (born December 11, 1939) is an American writer. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Cutting Horse Association Members Hall of Fame and the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame. McGuane's early novels were noted for a comic appreciation for the irrational core of many human endeavors, multiple takes on the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. H ...

of the 1960s and 1970s. His later writing reflected an increasing devotion to family relationships and relationships with the natural world in the changing

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

, primarily

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, where he has made his home since 1968, and where his last five novels and many of his essays are set. He has three children, Annie, Maggie and Thomas.

Early life

McGuane was born in Wyandotte,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, the son of

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...

parents who moved to the Midwest from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. His primary education included boarding school at Cranbrook School, but also included work on a ranch in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

, fishing and hunting, and a difficult relationship with his alcoholic father that would later shadow much of his fiction. McGuane prefers to consider his roots

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...

, on which side he is descended from a rich storytelling clan. He envisioned himself as a writer from a very young age, admiring what he perceived as the adventurous life of a writer as much as the prospect of writing. When he was ten years old, he got into a physical altercation with a friend over differing descriptions of a sunset. He began a serious devotion to writing by the age of 16.

Career

After briefly attending the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and Olivet College, McGuane graduated from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

, where he received a B.A. in English in 1962 and met lifelong friend Jim Harrison. At the Yale School of Drama, where he obtained an M.F.A. in 1965, he studied playwriting and dramatic literature. A

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Boo ...

Fellowship to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

in 1966–67 allowed him to finish his first published novel, ''

The Sporting Club ''The Sporting Club'' is the 1968 debut novel of author Thomas McGuane. Plot summary ''The Sporting Club'' chronicles the friendship and rivalry of Vernor Stanton, an unstable patrician iconoclast, and the protagonist, Stanton's lifelong friend, J ...

'', published in 1969. Upon completing his Stegner Fellowship, McGuane and his first wife, Rebecca Portia Crockett (a direct descendant of

Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of ...

), began to divide their time between

Livingston, Montana Livingston is a city and county seat of Park County, Montana, United States. It is in southwestern Montana, on the Yellowstone River, north of Yellowstone National Park. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,040. History T ...

, and

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

. When the screen rights to ''The Sporting Club'' were purchased, he bought ranch property in Montana's

Paradise Valley In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

. His second novel, ''The Bushwhacked Piano'', appeared in 1971.

Jonathan Yardley Jonathan Yardley (born October 27, 1939) was the book critic at '' The Washington Post'' from 1981 to December 2014, and held the same post from 1978 to 1981 at the '' Washington Star''. In 1981, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Ba ...

in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the 31-year-old McGuane “a talent of Faulknerian potential,” while

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...

described McGuane as “a language star.” The novel won the Rosenthal Award of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. McGuane's third novel, ''Ninety-Two in the Shade'' (1973), is perhaps his best known. It was nominated for a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. In 1973, he crashed his Porsche on an icy Texas highway. While not seriously injured, he was left speechless for several days. He reassessed his career and changed his focus to Hollywood's lucrative screenwriting opportunities. He entered a period where he became known as "Captain Berserko" and wrote screenplays for '' Rancho Deluxe'' (1975), shot in Livingston; ''

The Missouri Breaks ''The Missouri Breaks'' is a 1976 American Western film starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. The film was directed by Arthur Penn, with supporting performances by Randy Quaid, Harry Dean Stanton, Frederic Forrest, John McLiam, and Kathle ...

'' (1976), directed by Arthur Penn and starring

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

and

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

; and self-directing a film adaptation of '' 92 in the Shade'' (1975), starring

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

, Warren Oates,

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018), known professionally as Margot Kidder, was a Canadian-American actress whose career spanned five decades. Her accolades include three Canadian Screen Awards and one Daytime Emmy A ...

and Harry Dean Stanton. The early 1970s included an affair with actress Elizabeth Ashley, divorce from first wife Becky, (who went on to marry Peter Fonda), marriage to actress Margot Kidder, the birth of their daughter, Maggie, and his second divorce—all in less than a year. McGuane published his most autobiographical novel, ''Panama'', in 1978. The character Catherine was said to be a literary embodiment of McGuane's third wife, Laurie Buffett, sister of

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

, one of McGuane's Key West comrades. With the exception of positive reviews in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' and ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'', the novel was mercilessly panned by critics as self-absorbed and a testament to wasted literary talent—notwithstanding McGuane's protests that he considered it his best novel. An ongoing struggle has ensued between McGuane and his reviewers concerning their expectations for his fiction, and their sense of how much McGuane's celebrity was intruding upon his work. The upheaval of the period concluded with the deaths of McGuane's father, mother, and sister in the span of 30 months. McGuane was presented the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

by Council member David McCullough at the 1993 Academy of Achievement Summit in Glacier National Park, Montana. McGuane won the 2016 Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times, was a finalist for the National Magazine Award in 2013 for his story "River Camp," and was a finalist for the Frank O'Connor Award in 2015. In 2018, he appeared in conversation with Richard Powers at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...

Life after ''Panama''

After ''Panama'', McGuane's novels changed considerably. Beginning with ''Nobody's Angel'' in 1981, the setting has consistently been in Montana, usually the fictitious town of “Deadrock” (presumably a play on “Livingston”). The familiar setting and certain personal parallels make for easy inferences of McGuane himself in his string of male protagonists in these novels, except for the female protagonist, in ''The Cadence of Grass'' (2002). He moved from the Paradise Valley to a different property in the Boulder River valley near McLeod, Montana.

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

has observed that McGuane's nonfiction writing displays a markedly contrasting inner peace and natural spirituality. McGuane's paeans to fly fishing (''The Longest Silence''), horses (''Some Horses'') and the outdoors (''An Outside Chance'') capture his belief in the redemptive potential of nature and sporting ritual.

Selected works

;Fiction * ''The Sporting Club'' (1969, novel) * ''The Bushwacked Piano'' (1971, novel) * ''Ninety-Two in the Shade'' (1973, novel) * ''The Missouri Breaks'' (1976, screenplay, paperback original) * ''Panama'' (1978, autobiographical novel) * ''Nobody's Angel'' (1981, novel) * ''In the Crazies: Book and Portfolio'' (1984; ltd. ed. of 185) * ''Something to Be Desired'' (1985, novel) * ''To Skin a Cat'' (1986, short stories) * ''The Best American Short Stories'' (1986, story contribution, "Sportsmen") * ''Keep the Change'' (1989, novel) * ''Nothing but Blue Skies'' (1992, novel) * ''The Cadence of Grass'' (2002, novel) * ''The Best American Short Stories'' (2004, story contribution, "Gallatin Canyon") * ''The Best American Short Stories'' (2005, story contribution, "Old Friends") * ''The Best American Short Stories'' (2006, story contribution, "Cowboy") * ''Gallatin Canyon'' (2006, short stories) * ''Driving on the Rim'' (2010, novel) * ''Crow Fair'' (2015, short stories) * ''The Best American Short Stories 2015'' (2015, story contribution, "Motherlode") * ''Cloudbursts'' (2018, short stories) ;Non-fiction * ''An Outside Chance'' (1981) * ''Best American Sports Writing, 1992'' (1993) * ''Live Water'' (1996) * ''The Best American Essays (1997, essay contribution, "Twenty-fish Days") * ''The Best American Sports Writing'' (1997, essay contribution, "The Way Home") * ''Some Horses'' (1999) * ''The Longest Silence'' (2000) * ''Upstream: Fly Fishing in the American Northwest'' (1999) * ''Horses'' (2005) * ''The Best American Sports Writing'' (2005, essay contribution, "Seeing Snook") * ''The Best American Mystery Stories'' (2012, essay contribution, "The Good Samaritan") * ''The Best American Mystery Stories'' (2015, essay contribution, "Motherlode") ;Screenplays * '' Rancho Deluxe'' (1975) * '' 92 in the Shade'' (1975) * ''

'' (1976) * ''

Tom Horn Thomas Horn Jr., (November 21, 1860 – November 20, 1903) was an American scout, cowboy, soldier, range detective, and Pinkerton agent in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West. Believed to have committed 17 killings as a ...

'' (1981) * ''

Cold Feet Cold feet is a phrase that refers to a person not going through with an action, particularly one which requires long term commitment, due to fear, uncertainty, and doubt. A person is said to be "getting cold feet" when, after previously committin ...

'' (1989)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *American Audio Prose Library. "Interview with Tom McGaune". 1985 *"The Art of Fiction" (Thomas McGuane interview) ''

Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Ph ...

'' (Fall 1985) *Garcia, Guy D. "He's Left No Stone Unturned". ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' (December 25, 1989) *McMurtry, Larry. "On the Big Two-Hearted River". '' New York Review of Books'' (June 27, 2002) *Torrey, Beef (ed.
"Conversations with Thomas McGuane"
*Yardley, Jonathan. Review of ''The Bushwhacked Piano''. ''

'' (March 14, 1971)

External links

* *
"A Conversation with Thomas McGuane," by Liz Lear, Key West, 1984
Edited by Beef Torrey
"The Late Style of Thomas McGuane", Mark Kamine, The Believer.

"Overlooked classics: Nothing But Blue Skies by Thomas McGuane", The Guardian UK"A Conversation with Thomas McGuane," Identity Theory
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuane, Thomas 1939 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American people of Irish descent Angling writers Cranbrook Educational Community alumni Michigan State University alumni People from Park County, Montana People from Wyandotte, Michigan Stegner Fellows The New Yorker people Novelists from Michigan Writers from Montana Yale University alumni 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Film directors from Michigan Film directors from Montana Screenwriters from Michigan Screenwriters from Montana Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters