“Take Half, Leave Half”
by Thomas McGuane
from the October 10, 2022 issue of The New Yorker
We are fortunate every time we get a new story from Thomas McGuane, who started publishing over fifty years ago and is now 82. Hopefully there are even more on their way!
Here is how “Take Half, Leave Half” begins:
In June, Grant drove his project Mazda with the FFA sticker south, out of Montana’s spring rain squalls to Oklahoma, drinking Red Bull and Jolt Cola, grinding his teeth, with his saddle in the back seat. Each summer, he took whatever job his friend Rufus had found for him. This time it was on the Coy Blake four-township spread, but he had to meet Mr. Blake first to see if the offer was final. “You’ll get it, but you got to sit with him and let him talk,” Rufus said. “He’s a lonely old land hog with one foot in the grave. His people been here since the Indians.” Coy Blake was ninety years old, with no immediate family, but he had not relinquished an inch of his land.
I hope you all enjoy the story! Please let me know your thoughts below!
I personally think that McGuane is a genius when it comes to writing about ordinary life, this solidified that thought for me.
I enjoyed this story. The western or cowboy dream/myth and its allure is a potent reality and great literary theme. There’s something classical and elegant about this story of two friends attempting to keep the cowboy life going in a modern world and the death of one of them is a perfect, tragic culmination. I’ve had mixed feelings about McGuane’s stories of late but this is a gem.
What a wonderful read. Childhood friends are like a warm blanket. Thank you Tom, again.