Life Behind Bars

Zoos are fin for people, but they make animals go crackers.

by Stephen Harrigan

Oil Boom ‘81

The glory days of the oil industry aren’t over; they’ve only just begun.

by Harry Hurt III

New Oil: The Giddings Gamble

Oil patch old-timers said to stay away from the Austin chalk. But a few feisty newcomers refused to listen and cashed in for millions.

by Harry Hurt III

Old Oil: The Ranger Revival

Ranger was the most romantic field in the early oil boom. Now a major company is risking its future to prove that romance still lives.

by John Bloom

Total Fabrications

When machine-printed polyester or rayon won’t do, consider the work of Texas’ top textile artists.

by Cyndy Severson

Crime Without Punishment

Lock your doors. The police have given up trying to catch burglars.

by Jim Atkinson

Behind the Lines

It’s time to stop taking care of the Arabs and start taking care of ourselves.

by Paul Burka

Politics

An Ounce of Prevention

The doctors who police other doctors are hard on their errant peers-but are they finding all the offenders?

by Abby Kaighin

Books

Blood Luster

Aztec is gripping buts so gory you may have to read it with you eyes closed; Darlin’ Billadds patina to the Wild Bill Hickok legend; as a major American writer, Thomas McGuane has An Outside Chance; Louise Gluck again proves her power as a poet.

by Stephen Harrigan

Dining Out

French Toasts

Two new restaurants in Dallas and Houston will save you a trip to Paris.

by W. L. Taitte

Theater

Marty Martin, Marty Martin

A young Austin playwright is making a name for himself by writing plays about famous people.

by W. L. Taitte

Classical Music

Going for Baroque

Dallas Civic Opera lured audiences back to the eighteenth century with its American premiere of Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso.

by W. L. Taitte

Church

Shout If You Love Jesus

Local Church members in Houston make sure God hears them; Trinity Baptist in San Antonio is confident it has God’s ear.

by William Martin

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

Cultural triumph in San Antonio; mayoral high jinks in Matamoros; electoral tableau in Austin; political protest in Dallas.

by Michael Ennis

Roar of the Crowd

The rich and famous, the high and mighty, the beginning and the end.

The Inside Story

Alphabet blocks.

by Gregory Curtis

State Secrets

Roughhouse on the Red River; the inside skinny on who’s In and Out; the Census Bureau giveth and the Census Bureau taketh away; circulatory ailments for Dallas newspapers; the last warpath.

Edited by Paul Burka

Touts

All I want is loving you and music, music, music.

Patricia Sharpe

Puzzle

Ante Up!