Profits? What Profits?

Reading Big Oil’s annual reports for the truth about profits is a little like drilling for oil in the Baltimore Canyon: you know it’s there, but how deep will you have to go to find it?

by John Bloom

Oil Slicks

A critic’s practiced eye scans the oil giants’ yearly self-portraits.

by John Bloom

My Home, the Galleria

Texas’ most glamorous mall has all the comforts of home and then some. So why not move in?

by Richard West

Oh, You Beautiful Mall

Where else but the Galleria can you find a lavender lace Western dress, a Persian turquoise necklace, and Texas’ most expensive potato chips?

by Cyndy Severson

Why I Turned In Lee Otis Johnson

When black militant Lee Otis Johnson got out of prison his old friends welcomed him back with open arms. Later, some of them wished they hadn’t.

by Dick J. Reavis

The Best Strikes Back

Four years ago we brought you the Best of Texas. Now we do it again—only better.

by Richard West

Behind the Lines

Once again our presidential candidates are promising to get the government under control. Here’s why they won’t.

by James Fallows

Great Outdoors

Falls Alarm

The Guadalupe River is beautiful, inviting, and treacherous.

by Jan Reid

Stepping Out

And Now, On Your Left...

Have you ever wondered what Houston and Dallas look like to tourists? A Gray Line Bus is the perfect way to find out.

by Michael Ennis

Dining Out

Grape Days Coming

Move over, Jett Rink. The West Texas wildcatter may give way to a new breed: the West Texas vintner.

by W. L. Taitte

Church

Jehovah’s Brigade, Midland’s Regulars

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Dallas have their Kingdom on earth; Presbyterians in Midland have taken root on the dusty plain.

by William Martin

Film

City Kicker

Urban Cowboy falls off its horse; The Shining is Stanley Kubrick’s horror odyssey; The Empire Strikes Back, but it’s no coup; Alfred Hitchcock takes the fortieth step.

by George Morris

Classical Music

Magic Wands

Two guest conductors in Texas are wizards at their work; three Houston Grand Opera productions are enchanting.

by W. L. Taitte

Popular Music

The Ballad of Dan Del Santo

He came to Austin, Texas, with a guitar on his knee.

by Joe Nick Patoski

Art

Got My Jomo Workin’

Dallas’s David McManaway is an artist of many charms.

by Michael Ennis

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

Weathering a year-long drouth in South Texas; Harlingen’s cute little, uh, body builder; adversaries in the bilingual education battle don’t speak the same language; Bastards from Hell terrorize Houston.

The Inside Story

Too many chefs.

by Gregory Curtis

Puzzle

The rebus factor.

Roar of the Crowd

Skyscrapers and front porches, sex on the border and at the table, animals assailed and saved.

State Secrets

Houston could forfeit the world’s largest convention; Mutscher loses—again; real estate empires totter; the growing ambitions of Bob Bullock.

Edited by Paul Burka

Touts

They’re delightful, they’re delovely, they’re delicious.

by Patricia Sharpe