In Some Can Whistle, the narrator Danny Deck is a lottery Hollywood success, having struggled as an obscure writer in Hollywood for years only to write what becomes the most successful television show in history. By the time we meet him, he has taken his money and become a total recluse in Texas. His emotional commitments do not extend beyond the phone calls he has with the many movie star ex-lovers he’s collected over the years. He seems well on his way to living a life of emotional obscurity when a phone call from his twenty-one year old daughter T.R., whom he has not seen since her birth, kickstarts his life, and the story. When T.R. brings her two young children and her boyfriend to live with Danny in his Texas mansion, Danny’s life catapults into emotional overdrive.
The book moseys along, just like Danny’s life, without a lot happening and I was prepared to give this book an uncharacteristically 3 stars when I was a little more than halfway done. But then the story kicked into high gear, as did my interest, and I read the last chapter with a feeling of contentment. I hope you will too.
Great review. I’ll check it out.
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been a McMurtry fan since Lonesome Dove, which my Dad gave me to read, and I was hooked. I’ll have to dig around a bit to find this but I am sure it will be worth it. I think the fact of picking up a book without knowing what it is about would make a very good exercise, as way of getting out of the “comfort zone” and bringing the reader into a world they may or may not have gotten into otherwise.