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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Livestock slaughter depicted; a violent sexual assault; ranch-country brutality
Language
Some
Rough language and profanity
Sexual Content
Some
A rape of a Black housekeeper; adult relationships
Substance Use
Some
Drinking throughout; ranch milieu
Emotional Intensity
Some
Loss of innocence; the corruption of the next generation by cynicism and cruelty
What this book is about
Lonnie, a young man on his grandfather Homer's ranch, watches a hoof-and-mouth outbreak force the slaughter of their cattle herd. McMurtry's stark debut novel — the basis for the film Hud — centers on the conflict between the old rancher's values and the brutal cynicism of his stepson Hud. Through Lonnie's eyes, the death of the West as a moral landscape is made visceral and specific.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Sexual assault of a Black character
Mass livestock slaughter
Cynicism and moral corruption as themes
Reader Verification
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