Something to Be Desired was published by Random House in 1984. Lucien Taylor leaves his wife and son to pursue Emily, a former lover who has gone to Central America. The affair fails. Lucien returns to Montana — not to his family but to a property he owns that contains a hot spring. He builds a resort, reinvents himself as an entrepreneur, and tries to construct a new life from scratch.
The novel examines McGuane’s recurring question: can a man who has destroyed his domestic life through selfishness and restlessness find redemption through work? Lucien’s resort succeeds commercially, but success doesn’t repair the damage — his ex-wife remains unforgiving, his son grows up without him, and Emily continues to exercise a destructive fascination.
McGuane’s Montana landscape here is not merely setting but moral argument: the vastness of the country offers the illusion of escape, the possibility of starting over, but the small communities that inhabit it maintain long memories. You cannot outrun your reputation in a place where everyone knows everyone.
Collecting Something to Be Desired
First edition (Random House, New York, 1984): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine in jacket: $20–$40
- Signed first: $40–$80
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
The Reinvention
The hot springs resort that Lucien Taylor builds from nothing is McGuane’s metaphor for self-reinvention — the American belief that you can start over, build something new, become someone different. The novel tests this belief against the stubborn fact that personal history is not erasable. Taylor left his family, and the consequences — for his ex-wife, his son, and his own conscience — follow him into his new life.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does McGuane write about Montana? With the precision of a long-term resident, not a tourist. His Montana is not the scenic wilderness of nature writing but a working landscape of ranches, small towns, irrigation ditches, and people who make their living from the land. He writes about Montana the way Faulkner wrote about Mississippi — from the inside.