AltWeeklies Wire
'Slavery by Another Name' Examines Post-Civil War Convict Labornew
Douglas Blackmon argues -- passionately, forcefully and convincingly -- that by any measure, blacks in the states of the former Confederacy saw their freedom so warped and constrained in the decades after the Civil War that the overwhelming majority were not in any meaningful way free.
The Texas Observer |
Todd Moye |
12-17-2008 |
Nonfiction
'The Big Rich' Covers Almost a Century of Texas Oilnew
For those with an interest in contemporary Texas history this is a must-read; indeed, its reach stretches well beyond Texas. The oil rich of Texas loomed large on the national horizon, and there was a time that if they pawed the earth, politicians trembled.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Richards |
12-03-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Guilty' Examines Arab Bashing on the Big Screennew
Six years into a costly war fought on Arab soil, one might expect American media to demonize the enemy, rationalizing the necessity of killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. But perhaps because of popular revulsion at the war, Shaheen finds cause for hope.
The Texas Observer |
Steven G. Kellman |
12-03-2008 |
Nonfiction
Remembering Jim Crumley, the Last Good Detective Writernew
When the Texas-born novelist James Crumley died at age 68 on September 17, newspaper obituaries in Los Angeles, Washington, New York, and London all mentioned one of his sentences. The sentence was not the only notable string of words this fine writer composed, but devotees of his work often point to it as a landmark in modern detective fiction.
The Texas Observer |
Dick Holland |
11-19-2008 |
Books
Diane Wilson's Memoir of Her Fundamentalist Upbringing is a Delightnew
Holy Roller: Growing Up in the Church of the Knock Down, Drag Out; Or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus describes Wilson's Pentecostal upbringing in a tiny fishing town in Texas, where residents were ruled by poverty, labor, elaborate religious mores, and corrupt authorities.
The Texas Observer |
Emily DePrang |
11-06-2008 |
Nonfiction
The Shelf Life of the Presidential Mindnew
Come January, whoever occupies the West Wing needs to read, and widely so, for there is no better way to come to grips with the forces transforming the Western landscape, natural and human.
The Texas Observer |
Char Miller |
10-22-2008 |
Books
'The Gulf Stream' Helps Us Understand Human-Centered Ecologynew
Stan Ulanski has written a multilayered and eminently insightful book about the way the natural world works. His topic is what the founder of modern oceanography, Matthew Fontaine Maury, has called "a river in the ocean" -- the Gulf Stream.
The Texas Observer |
James E. McWilliams |
10-08-2008 |
Nonfiction
'American Earth' Offers Vivid View of the Evolution of Environmental Thinkingnew
American Earth comprises some 100 writings sure-handedly selected and introduced by editor Bill McKibben. Individual entries take a variety of forms, from book excerpts, essays, and speeches to straightforward reportage, memoir, and even poetry.
The Texas Observer |
John Suval |
09-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Machiaveli's Shadow' Shows the Emperor's Architect Has No Clothesnew
Machiaveli's Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove tells, for the first time, the story of how George W. Bush fired the adviser who had been with him since before he defeated Texas Gov. Ann Richards in 1994.
The Texas Observer |
Louis Dubose |
09-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
The Beats Go On in 'Texas Music'new
The History of Texas Music is an anthropological study of Texas as examined through its diverse offering of folk music, offering a historical study of social, ethnic and geographical influence and how they have laid the groundwork for a thriving indie music scene.
The Texas Observer |
Michael Hoinski |
08-27-2008 |
Nonfiction
Charles R. Morris on the Madness of Bankersnew
Millions of words have been written about the ongoing financial disaster largely caused by the subprime mortgage mess. But the most concise and easiest to understand handbook on the issue is almost certainly Charles R. Morris' The Trillion Dollar Meltdown.
The Texas Observer |
Robert Bryce |
08-27-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Houston's Fady Joudah is a Poet Without Bordersnew
According to his champions, the Palestinian-American poet is one of the most accomplished and interesting poets to appear in the United States in some time.
The Texas Observer |
David Theis |
08-13-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Road Fatigue: The Beat Generation in the Rearview Mirrornew
Along with all the writers who come after them, I am indebted to the Beats for their invigoration of the arts, for shattering the molds and enlarging the realm of what can be printed, sung, painted, and said. There has been a progression since then, however. "Transgression," sometimes billed as the obligation of a true artist in the contemporary world, has become so widespread and predictable that it seems almost tame -- trendy transgressive, if you will.
The Texas Observer |
A.G. Mojtabai |
07-24-2008 |
Books
Mountain Migrant Rick Bass Tries to Explain Why He Left Houston for Higher Groundnew
The American West is a receding point, measured by imagination rather than sextant, and Bass has found it in a rugged stretch of 1 million acres whose human census -- 150 -- is outnumbered by each of several other species, including black bears, owls, elk, and coyotes.
The Texas Observer |
Steven G. Kellman |
07-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
Jonathan Miles' Epistolary Debut Gets Buried Under the Weight of its Own Baggagenew
Ultimately, Dear American Airlines is only as redeemable as its protagonist, which is to say, not very.
The Texas Observer |
Emily DePrang |
07-24-2008 |
Fiction
