Leaving Cheyenne

My foot's in the stirrup, My pony won't stand; Goodbye, old partner, I'm leaving Cheyenne. -- Old cowboy song Leaving Cheyenne, Larry McMurtry's second novel, traces the loves of three West Texas characters as they follow that sundown trail: Gideon Fry, the serious rancher; Johnny McCloud, the free-spirited cowhand; and Molly Taylor, the sensitive woman they both love and who bears them each a son. Tragic circumstances mark the trail but McMurtry's style never turns melodramatic or sentimental.