McMurtry was later very harsh on this book which he said was written very quickly without style although he admits it had a strong sense of character and time and place. Lots of sex and writing about sex - this book was actually more commercial than i remembered because it's about young people growing up and having sex trapped in a small town and there's always a market for that eg Peyton Place, Kings Row.
This is better written than them of course. The leads are okay - Sonny, Duane, Jacy - but the adults really well sketched: the gay English teacher kicked out of town, the most likely gay football coach, the coach's wife (beautiful portral), Jacy's mother (who roots Sonny here but it basically a nice person giving good advice... like the dad in Leaving Cheyenne come to think of it), Sam the Lion, the horny youth who winds up kidnapping a little girl (maybe not as minor a crime as McMurtry paints). He admits to hating Archer City when he wrote it and you can tell.
Things feel so true though like the "fast" party where everyone is nude and urban legends growiung. Other stuff feels more location specific like having sex with cows and visiting Mexico.
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