Texas Book Festival 2014
by Texas Observer Staff / Posted on | No CommentsThis year’s Texas Book Festival, overtaking Austin’s Capitol grounds for the weekend of Oct. 25-26, will host more than 280 writers and their more […]
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The Observer Review: Bret Anthony Johnston’s Remember Me Like This
by Nico Vreeland / Posted on | No CommentsRemember Me Like This is a stereotypical young literary author’s debut novel. It comes heavily hyped and praised, features beautiful prose and almost no plot, flirts with the trappings of a genre novel but dares not dirty its hands with the actual workings of one, and generally disappoints.
Read full postIndependent Publishers Make their Presence Felt at the 2014 Texas Book Festival
by David Duhr / Posted on | No CommentsWhen the estimated mob of 40,000 descends on the Texas statehouse this weekend for the Texas Book Festival, five of the state’s independent publishers hope at least a few members of the crowd will be there to hear their authors speak. After all, how often does an independent press in Texas get a chance to reach 40,000 potential readers?
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Blood Aces Shows Texas Gangster Benny Binion Knew How to Hold ‘Em
by Nick Davis / Posted on | No CommentsAs Doug J. Swanson’s exhaustively researched and artfully written account demonstrates beyond all doubt, they don’t make ’em like Benny Binion anymore.
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New Biography Compiles the Legends of The Flatlanders
by Brad Tyer / Posted on | No CommentsThe triumvirate of Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock is a singular musical entity. It’s also an acquired—if acclaimed—taste, and John T. Davis, one of the most well-seasoned of Texas-music scribes, doesn’t bother making too much of a case for the band’s undersung importance, neglected influence, or ill-acknowledged greatness.
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Diane Lawson Gets Inside Texas’ Head in A Tightly Raveled Mind
by David Duhr / Posted on | No CommentsA Tightly Raveled Mind is suitable for fans of mystery novels and psychological thrillers, as well as any reader who enjoys potshots aimed at uppity Texans.
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Robert Wuthnow Examines God’s Role in Texas Politics in Rough Country
by Robyn Ross / Posted on | No CommentsRough Country looks at religion’s influence on Texas politics and the ways in which the state’s geography and culture have affected its dominant religions.
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GOP’s Reign in Texas Was Inevitable, According to Wayne Thorburn’s Red State
by Christopher Hooks / Posted on | No CommentsAnyone hoping for Lee Atwater-style revelations about the inner workings of a party’s ascendance will be disappointed in Red State.
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Katie Robinson Edwards’ Midcentury Modern Art in Texas Offers a Definitive Take on an Overlooked Era
by Harbeer Sandhu / Posted on | No CommentsMost people don’t think beyond New York and its Abstract Expressionists when discussing Modernism. Midcentury Modern Art in Texas seeks to rectify that.
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Forgetting How to Read? Stop Reading Online
by Michael Agresta / Posted on | 2 CommentsIf we want to maintain the kind of thoughtful, reflective, curious minds that engineered the Internet in the first place, it’s time to face up to what reading online is doing to our brains.
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