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McLarty's greatest strength, two beautiful themes: the purity and importance of art and that of Steven's coming to terms with his midlife crisis and finally finding true love. In fact, McLarty's best writing comes from Steven's reflections on how much has changed since Steven relocated and met Molly: "Looking across the space of tile, seeing her reflected in the bathroom cabinet mirror, front and now back, the wild new hairs, wilder still, morning-pink skin, eyes glowing brown to green in the light from the window's sun, chin set out in a dare, he smiled and perceived everything to have been worth it. His very lifetime of general human unease to have been acceptable, if that is what it had taken to set him down here, across from her, at this moment."
--The Denver Post
Ron McLarty's third novel, Art in America (Viking, July), is peopled with a bevy of wonderful characters. His characters are interesting not only for their flaws but also their humanity. Their dialogue is a joy to read. It's been a long time since I've read a book in which the dialogue stuck in my head like this. McLarty captures the spirit not only of the new West but the traditions of its variety of cultures. The novel's themes are not only how history has shaped us but also the rejuvenating effects of art and love. McLarty handles the multiple plot lines adeptly and with furious energy. The book picks up momentum as the different plot lines come to their climaxes. The description of a theater piece central to the plot is among the most readable and exciting representation of theater I've read. Art in America is for anyone who may have lost a little faith in the power of either art or love.
--Joe EIchman, Tattered Cover
McLarty delivers a rollicking, robust, Rabelaisian tale of common sense and neighborliness run amok in picturesque rural Colorado. Underpinning the plot is a serious, contentious issue--the right of eminent domain--the clash of public and private interests in a terrain of pristine beauty produces a zesty bouillabaisse. Read Entire Article
--Houston Chronicle
Art In America chosen as a Pick of the Month in the August edition of bookviews.com by it's editor, Alan Caruba "This is one of those novels where you find yourself laughing at the wonderful dialogue and crazy situations. McLarty has written two previous well-received novels and this one will surely be as well."
--www.bookviews.com
McLarty writes with heart about both big-town artistic insecurity and small-town foibles. This is a big, sprawling book, which loops like a lasso from hilarity to poignancy and back. He writes with grace about the balancing act between art and life, and this book is a thrilling ride through a still-wild West."
--Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Art In America finds a charming groove with plenty of chuckles. Those turn into snorts of hysteria once the curtain opens on Kearney's Creedemore epic, which is of a scale and lunacy deserving an honorary Tony for funniest play never staged in real life. If you enjoy your antiheroes scruffy and your comedy topped with a dollop of Americana, buy a ticket for Art In America.
--Christian Science Monitor
Can't get enough theatre, even in the somewhat slower summer season? Just out from Viking is a new novel, Art In America, by bestselling author, Ron McLarty. There's a love story, of course but it's mostly about how a community theatre transforms a small town in Colorado.
--Dayton Daily News
McLarty excels at comic description . . . Art In America will win over readers who stick it out by the time it's reaches its climax . . .an enjoyable and ultimately satisfying novel.
--New West Book Review
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest meets A Confederacy of Dunces. McLarty’s storytelling skills shine in this ribald, riotously funny but also poignant novel. You’ll never look at the theater or the state of Colorado in quite the same way after reading it.
--David Baldacci
Ambitious and consistently charming, this overstuffed third novel by the author of The Memory of Running is brimming with gems of richly observed smalltown life. In Creedemore, Colo., a land-rights dispute pitches locals against one another and attracts national media attention. Into the fray arrives Steven Kearney, a prolific New York author of unpublished novels, poems and plays, who has been invited by the Creedemore Historical Society to write and direct a play dramatizing the town's history. Steven's relocation sparks a colorful fish-out-of-water story populated with cowboys, environmental activists, hordes of reporters, performance artists, ecoterrorists and bona fide outlaws. Keeping the peace is sheriff Petey Myers, whose recollections of (and occasional conversations with) his slain partner provide some of the novel's finest moments. Sparkling, at times hilarious dialogue keeps many—perhaps too many—subplots moving. The depth of characters like Steven and Petey is contrasted by some of the minor characters, who can come off as stereotypes. Still, readers will root for the residents of Creedemore as they alternately divide over a trial and come together to stage the new play.
--Publishers Weekly
The actor-playwright turned novelist offers a hefty slice of Americana-inflected entertainment in his latest novel (Traveler, 2007, etc.).
After offering a laboriously comic itinerary of its NYC author-protagonist Steven Kearney's numerous unpublishable novels and plays, McLarty settles into a rich characterization of a hopeful loser bereft of both literary success and his angry girlfriend. Steven is thrown a lifeline when the town of Creedemore, Colo., offers him a lucrative residency in return for writing a historical play about the area's storied origins. So it's off to Creedemore, where Steven is greeted by an officious spinster and introduced to Creedemore's eccentric populace. Brisk short chapters move things along smartly, and action abounds, as a range war of sorts erupts between near-centenarian feed-store mogul and landowner Ticky Lettgo (we're not making this up) and "Mountain Man" Red Fields, an environmentalist Age-of-Aquarian planning to offer adventurous river rafting trips through waters Ticky claims are also his exclusive property. Add in juxtaposed peeks back east, where Steven's buddies Roarke (a lesbian actress-director) and Tubby (a Falstaffian construction worker) keep tabs on his western adventures, and you have a cheerfully overstuffed tale whose ungainly bulk is redeemed by energetic prose and busy comic detail. There are also loud protests, some politically inspired, others motivated by sheer cussedness; lively courtroom battles; a bomb threat or two; and an overload of macho posturing (some of it performed by female characters). Vivid characters pop up frequently, including a transplanted Eastern sheriff (a man of reason serving where unreason rules), a foulmouthed reverend and a man known as "Cowboy Poet," a tireless fount of hilarious doggerel. And there's a corker of a climax, during which we're treated to the memorable opening scenes of Steven's commissioned sagebrush masterpiece. An actor adept at entertaining and holding an audience shows himself a novelist gifted with the same skills. The book is not a masterpiece, but it's an immensely engaging and winning performance.
--Kirkus Review
This is the third novel (following The Memory of Running, 2005, and Traveler, 2006) by veteran characteractor McLarty, and the third time’s the charm. Unpublished author Steven Kearney loses his apartment and his girlfriend all in one dreadful week. So when he is offered a paying position to write a historical play for the town of Creedmore, Colo., it seems as though his luck is about to change. But he arrives just as a bitter land dispute breaks out, pitting old-time rancher Ticky Lettgo against newcomer Red Fields. Kearney, urged on by the leader of the local historical society, who believes that art will heal the town, wrestles mightily with his own insecurities about his talent to produce his masterwork. McLarty works the whole spectrum here, from the hilarious banter of old cowpokes to the halting romance between the playwright and a mural artist to the incredibly moving moments when the town sheriff, still grieving the death of his old partner, invokes the late cop’s street wisdom. A bighearted, wildly entertaining novel from a writer who just gets better with every outing.
--Joanne Wilkinson
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