Thomas McGuane's first novel and his literary career, reputation, and influences

Thamas McGuane has had a long and highly successful writing career, with a focus on Western themes; somehow, I'd not read any of his novels but have for several years been enjoying his stories, which seem to appear regularly in the New Yorker. From his stories we sense that he's a Westerner - most are set in Montana - though he's not a writer of "Westerns"; his Montanans are contemporary, often prosperous, usually middle-aged men, making good money in the New West, particularly in real estate, as $ from Hollywood and Silicon Valley moves to Big Sky. In style, he's a brother of Richard Ford and a descendant of Raymond Carver. Inspired by a mention I came across somewhere regarding his novels, I picked up his first book, The Sporting Club (1968), which came w/ glowing jacket blurbs, introducing a young (28) writer. About 25% through, I'm impressed. He's a writer who seems to have found his footing and his style right from the outset - reminding me in this of Updike (Poorhouse Fair) in particular. How could a writer at that age be so confident, assured, and knowledgable? Well his career has not followed the arc of Updike's, perhaps in part because of his westward migration. Initially, he was compared w/ Hemingway (another writer who found is "voice" at the outset of his career), largely because of a shared interest in the outdoors and the Michigan setting that they shared as well - a big shadow that no doubt TMcG felt compelled to move out from under, because in fact his sensibility is quite different from Hemingway's. His writing is more expansive and his interest is more sociopolitical: The Sporting Club tells of one of those Michigan fishing and hunting lodges, a private enclave for well-off Detroit businessmen (white and Anglo, of course). Teh setting allows McGuane to write in loving detail about hunting and fishing (I know that he still is a devoted fly fisherman; don't know about the hunting), but his literary focus is on the rivalry between two old, ever-on-edge friends at the lodge and their immature, entitled behavior. An aura of tension hangs over this novel; the 2 friendly rivals at the outset engage in some stupid gunplay. Can we doubt that, under the influence of their rivalry, jealousy, competition (only one, Stanton, has come to the lodge w/ a woman - not his wife, he confides), and much drinking gunplay will lead to no good outcome?