The Snootiest Neighborhood in Texas

The residents of San Antonio’s King William Historic District saved their neighborhood from bums, bulldozers, and bogus bay windows. Now, if they can only save it from themselves.

by Gary Cartwright

Hate Thy Neighbor

A look at Houston’s Meyerland, Dallas’ Munger Place, El Paso’s Sunset Heights, and Austin’s Hyde Park shows that few fights get the blood boiling like a good fight with a neighbor.

by Emily Yoffe

Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

All there is to know about Texas baseball, including the best ballpark, the best team ever, why Yogi Berra thinks Houston is like New Jersey, and much, much more.

Unionbusters

by Dick J. Reavis

Texas Primer: The Fire Ant

Baby Calves, children, even the agriculture commissioner: no one is safe from this tiny deamon.

by Jan Reid

Grasslands

In the early journals of pioneers who described the prairie surrounding their new homesteads, the ocean was the most common metaphor—swells of grass set rippling by the wind.

by Jim Bones

Food

Eating Up the Miles

Our gadabout gourmet travels three thousand miles to answer the question. Where should you eat on your next Texas highway trip?

by Barbara Rodriquez

Behind the Lines

The solution politicians fear.

by Gary Cartwright

Movies

Slow-motion Dilemma

Violets Are Blue is swimming in heavy conflict; Wise Guys is mostly slob humor, Absolute Beginners is an absolute mess; At Close Range is a violent ambush.

by James Wolcott

Books

Nine Days of Solitude

The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor is more than just journalistic ghostwriting; I the Supreme is robbed of its punch; Bird of Life, Bird of Death peeks behind Central America’s dictators and dominoes.

by Jan Reid

Jazz

Treasure from the Vault

New releases of Duke Ellington’s work give us exquisite music from small bands, a dance band having fun, and stereo recording twenty years before its time.

by Doug Ramsey

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

The boom has quietly ended in Iran; fruitivores live longer, says T. C. Fry; a repo man nabs a truck and a sheriff nabs him.

by William Booth

Shopping

Sure, a bride needs a groom, but the most important part of any wedding is the dress.

by Mimi Swartz

Post-Modern Times

Houston’s upper crust and underclass mingle at Jo Abercrombie’s Wednesday night fights.

by Michael Ennis

Downtown

Buckle up for your own safety—and save $35.

by Jim Atkinson

Touts

These gifts belong to Daddy.

by Patricia Sharpe

Roar of the Crowd

The Roar of the Crowd

Toasting tacos; cleaning up the waterfront; replaying the Texaco-Pennzoil case.

Puzzle

Don’t get your signals crossed.

State Secrets

Questioning the teachers’ sense—of humor; desperate times breed desperate ideas; a big step toward interstate banking.

Edited by Paul Burka