Gus and Call are fictional characters and changing their lives for the better probably isn't an option for them. But if it were an option I can't see why Gus shelving dry goods with Clara in Austin would be better life than the one McMurtry wrote for him. Obviously opinions vary on that topic.

The books, in addition to being ripping good yarns, seem more descriptive than philosophical to me. They provide a wealth of detail about how people might have acted and felt through that part of Texas history, but it's up to the reader to sort out what it all means. That's not to say there aren't recurring themes. One that sings to me is his characters' discomfort with the future as it replaces the Texas they know, which he describes in the Lonesome Dove and Thalia novels. I think about that a lot as Dallas engulfs our small town, and I drive to work past Walmarts and McDonalds where I used to drive past horses and cows.
- Phil