Clearly, more sincere praise of the mature woman is overdue. And McMurtry's adulation is more than sincere, it's heated. He doesn't shy away from the pleasures of sexagenarian flesh: in Los Angeles, Maggie and Connie get up to pretty much everything Debbie got up to in Dallas -- and they intend to continue shopping around.
— The New York Times

Best friends since sixth grade and now they're hitting sixty, these two foxy Hollywood working girls. Their friendship is the heart of McMurtry's larky latest, fizzy enough to keep the fans happy. Sunday morning in Hollywood. Maggie Clary is alone in her bungalow, her lifelong home, when all three of her married daughters show up unannounced. They're on a mission to ease Maggie's "despair" following her hysterectomy. She still has her job as manager of a loop group, shepherding her volatile, druggy crew into the mix studios in the unglamorous world of post-production; and she still has a sex life, or did until she dumped the handsome young actor she caught going through her purse. Yet somehow the spark has gone. Might a trip with her old friend Connie revive it? This is an excellent setup, its tone raunchy in a cheerful, nonchalant way, as befits two sexual adventurers (not matrons, insists Connie) who've been "trolling for good-looking guys" since their early teens. And they don't have to be young studs (Maggie realizes she may be falling in love with her ancient Sicilian shrink, despite his S&M games). Once the ladies are on the road, driving to the Texas panhandle to visit Maggie's last living aunt, the writing goes thin. A white-bearded hitchhiker (a wrangler in Rita Hayworth's last movie) and a diminutive Indian who murdered his wife are colorful, but in an ersatz way. Aunt Cooney turns out to be a ruthless old crone overseeing her agribusiness (two million hens), and Maggie and Connie beat a hasty retreat back to LA. A short final section feels overly rushed, making Maggie's closing affirmation of her friendship with Connie less moving than it might have been. The proportions may bewrong, but there's something here for everyone: An affectionate peek at the workers clinging to Hollywood's lowest rung; campy sex; drama on the highway; and canny insights into the dynamics of family and friendship. Agent: Andrew Wylie/The Wylie Agency

"Loop Group is a playful, naughty, surprising book, painted on a small scale but still big (and only sometimes melancholy) fun."

— The Seattle Times

"Entertainingly offbeat."
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"McMurtry's plot is wacky, the style is deadpan and friendly to the two women, and the effect is compelling. This may prove to be the funniest book of the year."
— Newhouse News Service

The latest novel from Pulitzer Prize winner Larry McMurtry is nonstop fun. Reader C.J. Critt clearly loves the story, and her joy reading it shines through in every word. The story follows two lifelong friends, Maggie and Connie, on a road trip from California, where they dub voices for movies, to Texas. Along the way the colorful women encounter a zany cast of characters and confront some of life’s most difficult issues. The fun for Critt never ends. While she brings personality to the lead characters, Critt is also marvelous with the many supporting characters, whose personality quirks she highlights with alacrity. Perhaps the most memorable is Aunt Cooney, Connie’s octogenarian aunt, a Texas chicken farmer whose indomitable spirit Critt captures superbly. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine