Buffalo Girls

By: Larry McMurtry

Narrated by: Betty Buckley

A strange old woman caked in Montana mud pens a letter to her darling daughter back East—the writer's name is Martha Jane, but her friends call her Calamity...

I am the Wild West, no show about it. I was one of the people who kept it wild.

Larry McMurtry returns to the territory of his Pulitzer Prize–winning masterwork, Lonesome Dove, to sing the song of Calamity Jane's last ride. In a letter to her daughter back East, Martha Jane is not shy about her own importance. Martha Jane—better known as Calamity—is just one of the handful of aging legends who travel to London as part of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show in Buffalo Girls. As he describes the insatiable curiosity of Calamity's Indian friend No Ears, Annie Oakley's shooting match with Lord Windhouveren, and other highlights of the tour, McMurtry turns the story of a band of hardy, irrepressible survivors into an unforgettable portrait of love, fellowship, dreams, and heartbreak.

Thick Southern accent makes book hard to follow

Reader had a very gravel-y voice and an extremely thick Southern accent which made the book very hard to understand. It doesn’t really make sense to have a reader with a southern accent read since people in Deadwood wouldn’t have had a southern accent. The reader also rushes and doesn’t make clear transitions which made it difficult to follow when switching from dialogue and letters. Do not recommend.

I have never disliked an audiobook as much as I disliked this one.

Fun story, very good narration

What made the experience of listening to Buffalo Girls the most enjoyable?

The Narrator sounded like an old drunk- just like Calamity.

What other book might you compare Buffalo Girls to and why?

Haven't found one yet

What does Betty Buckley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A voice that brings all the characters come alive.

If you could take any character from Buffalo Girls out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Calmity's friend Dora. She almost starved as a child and she kinda turns me on.

Any additional comments?

Heaps of fun on a long driving trip. Kept me smiling the whole 5 hrs !

Sad but great!

What did you love best about Buffalo Girls?

The character's story telling was so good. You laughed and cried with them. It had some history in it that really helped to tell the story and entertain.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The "voice" the author gives the characters, especially the character of no ears and the voice the narrator used didn't match in my head, but overall, she did a good job.

If you could take any character from Buffalo Girls out to dinner, who would it be and why?

No ears, for sure! He seemed so interesting and had such insight, but kind of from an unusual perspective and with odd ideas and thoughts. I would love to have a conversation with him!

Any additional comments?

Larry McMurtry is awesome! As always!

Masterpiece

This audiobook production of Buffalo Girls blends fact, fiction and legend. It is both rollicking fun and achingly sad. Calamity Jane is the star of this tale. She is joined by her contemporaries Bill Cody, Dora Dufran and others as they live through the last days of the Old West and the development of the Wild West mythology. This is as fine a love letter to the passing of the western way of life as Lonesome Dove

Blending of fact and supposition.

End of an American era: the Wild West. Ending was too sad for explanation. B+.