Midnight Cowboy

Rating:
Summary: Harrowing But Beautiful
Review: Great as the film is, Herlihy's book is even greater. Joe Buck, the naive Cowboy with dreams of making it big selling himself to the women of New York City, comes off better via the written word.
What the book drives home so well is Joe Buck's thorough feeling of loneliness, and filling that void in the most unlikely place, and in the company of the most unlikely character. The "country boy goes to the cold, sprawling metropolis" theme has been done over, and often with a one-dimensional viewpoint. Herlihy illustrates Joe Buck as a young man who is plagued by shallow and aloof folk from his hometown in New Mexico to the City of Houston to New York City. Ironically, it is New York City where he encounters the one person he truly can be himself around; the explanation for Joe's comradery with Ratso Rizzo is more effective on page than on screen.

This is definitely a heavy read, but James Herlihy was an excellent storyteller. His writing paints such a colorful and tangible setting, you almost wish you were hanging with Joe through his misery just to catch the scenery and backdrops! Herlihy's writing reminds me of the films by director Kar-wai Wong; no matter how dismal the situation, it is portrayed so wonderfully that you wish you could hang around the scene.

This is one underrated gem.

Rating:
Summary: By far the best book I have read in a long time!
Review: I couldn't put it down, simply breathtaking!

Rating:
Summary: This would be the one.
Review: If I were sent to solitary confinement, and allowed to take only one fiction text with me, I would take this book without hesitation. This funny, sad, and philosophical masterpiece will never tire me. It shows exceptionally clear, how our life rests on probabilities of occurring events in surrounding us chaos.