Books
Adventures in Texas History
Texas author Bill Wittliff conjures up magic and miracles in his fiction debut.MARGARET ALLYSON
Bill Wittliff can definitely craft a tale. Although this is his first book of fiction, consider his screenwriting credits: Legends of the Fall, Lonesome Dove, and The Perfect Storm, among others. Equally stellar are his books o...
Benny and the Bad Boys
A former Morning News reporter recounts a legendary local mobster’s wild ride.MARGARET ALLYSON
Doug J. Swanson’s new book is laugh-out-loud funny — odd, since it’s about a semi-illiterate gangster who left a trail of dead bodies from Dallas to Las Vegas. But Benny Binion was in many ways a true visionary, even if h...
Right-to-Hate State
The Tea Party is just the most recent radical-right movement to grip Texas.JIMMY FOWLER
Now that the country has reacted with disgust and amusement to the extremist 2014 Texas Republican Party platform, the next logical question is: Where did that platform’s piquant combo of modern alienation, paranoia about the...
Days of Shame
In a new book, Fort Worth’s E.R. Bills shines a light on the 1910 Slocum Massacre.MARGARET ALLYSON
Nobody really knows why a group of white men went on a killing spree in the small East Texas town of Slocum in 1910. And until recently, nobody seemed to want to remember the shameful incident. Erroneously reported by some news...
Voluminous
In his new book, Houston law professor David Dow bites off more than he can chew.JIMMY FOWLER
University of Houston law professor and anti-death penalty crusader David Dow made a big noise in 2010 with his first book, The Autobiography of an Execution. In it, Dow took a highly personal look at the stressful, morally com...
Buzzkill: Down to Earth
This new comic co-written by The Toadies drummer is cause for applause.COLE WILLIAMS
Members of Alcoholics Anonymous tend to have their share of secrets, but few have one like the strapping young man who goes by the assumed name of “Ruben.” When we first meet him, he’s telling his story to his group, goin...
Dark Dallas
Back in 1963, Kennedy was a wanted man by the de facto white supremacists who ran the city.MARGARET ALLYSON
This is not a book about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In fact that event and its aftermath are detailed only in the epilogue. Instead, Dallas 1963 is a fascinating study of the political climate in the city i...
Buzzkill: Up, Up, and Away
A new comic tackles addiction and power.COLE WILLIAMS
There have been as many takes on the superhero genre as there are members of the X-Men. The artform has been deconstructed, reconstructed, and outright parodied. But there’s never been a superhero who gains his powers from do...
Charlie Brown
With his new book, Fort Worth’s Jeff Guinn brings Charles Manson back down to size.JIMMY FOWLER
Most people who are even a little familiar with 1960s murder guru Charles Manson know that his apocalyptic worldview was inspired by the New Testament’s book of Revelation and The Beatles’ lyrically cryptic White Album. Few...
Let the Sunshine In
A new Ann Richards biography paints a compelling portrait.MARGARET ALLYSON
Before there was Wendy Davis, there was Ann Richards. With her political savvy, big smart mouth, and, yes, her trademark “closer to God” silver bouffant ’do, Richards is one of only two women ever elected governor of Texa...