“This Isn’t Hell, You Bloody Yobs. This Is Only Texas.”
Exclusive: The first three chapters of Custer’s Brother’s Horse, the new novel by Edwin “Bud” Shrake.
November 2007 Issue
Features
The Glorie of Defeet
What Samir Patel learned in five years of not winning the national spelling bee (other than the root words of “eremacausis”).
Feature
The Old Man and the River
Fifty years after the mythical trip on the Brazos that was the basis for John Graves’s classic book, I followed in his wake. Literally.
Feature
The Day Oscar Wyatt Caved
In the right light, the ornery octogenarian oilman’s guilty plea can be seen as a victory: After all, he won’t spend the rest of his natural life in jail. But the fact is, he couldn’t beat the rap—and he knew it.
Keep Out!
Which is worse: looking the other way as millions of illegals stream across the border or building an unconscionably expensive and impractical fence that few in the Valley (a) want or (b) believe will make a difference?
Columns
Kinky Friedman
Reform Follows Function
When I ran for governor, I saw firsthand everything that was wrong with our state’s political system. That’s why I know how to fix it.
Michael Ennis
Modern Problems
What Dallas has in common with Beijing—and why their shared vision of the twenty-first-century world must carry the day.
Reporter
Music Review
Mescalito
Few have heard of, much less heard, Wishbone Saloon, the 2003 debut from West Texan Ryan Bingham. But those who have, including Terry Allen and Joe Ely, have fostered enough praise to help land Bingham on a major label. Mescalito (Lost Highway) arrives with a bushel of expectations,
Music Review
In the City of Lost Things
Even by the most conservative estimates, there are thousands of piano trio CDs in release. And while each tries to distinguish itself, many fail to do so. Play it quiet, and you might stray into New Age or smooth jazz territory. Play it loose and edgy, and you’re assigned to
Music Review
Home
In 1997 newspaper reporter Mike Rosenthal left rural Maine for Austin carrying dreams of rock and roll stardom. Despite two albums, and some notoriety for his running skills (he has regularly placed high in the Austin Marathon), it hasn’t exactly worked out that way: His releases, though stylistic opposites—one
Book Review
Custer’s Brother’s Horse
Edwin “Bud” Shrake’s picaresque Custer’s Brother’s Horse makes fine fodder of the bad blood in Texas following the Civil War, circa 1865. Federal troops visit indignities on the defeated communities they occupy; neighbors who fought on separate sides find no peace in the surrender. The horse in question,
Book Review
Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, the Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound
At the three-quarter mark of Paul Drummond’s exhaustive (and exhaustingly detailed) band bio, Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, the Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound, the avatars of acid rock stumble into Houston around 1968 in physical and emotional shambles. Lyricist and jug
Author Interview
Bill Cunningham
Inspired by the popularity of a panel on Texas crime literature hosted by the Southwestern Writers Collection in 2004, editors Bill Cunningham, Steven L. Davis, and Rollo K. Newsom have compiled Lone Star Sleuths: An Anthology of Texas Crime Fiction, with thirty excerpts from the likes of Rick Riordan, David
How to Field-Dress a Deer
So you’ve downed your first twelve-point buck of the season. But don’t break out the brewskis just yet: You’ve got some dirty work to do. “The minute the animal dies, it’s starting to decay,” says James C. Kroll, a.k.a. Dr. Deer from the Outdoor Channel (and whose formal job is
Joel Osteen
“I have got something that God has entrusted me with, and I have to make the most of it in helping other people.”
Artist Interview
Carrie Rodriguez
In 2005, after three studio albums with songwriting legend Chip Taylor, the Austin-born singer and fiddler wowed audiences with him for two nights in Germany. Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez Live From the RuhrTriennale (Train Wreck) captures the duo’s much-storied chemistry. So how exactly did the live album
Web
Web Exclusive
Keep it Simple
Last week, I caught up with Steve Bett, the editor of the Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society and moderator of a discussion group on Foolswisdom. Bett is a retired professor living in Austin who joined the 99-year-old international organization in the late eighties believing, as most simplified
Pat's Pick
Trio
It was the long-ago winter when my family’s two superannuated cats expired right before the holidays that Mother issued a surprising edict: “We’re having Christmas dinner at the Four Seasons this year.” It took three days to pry the reason out of her: She couldn’t bear the thought of
Jordan's Pick
Fashion at The Park
You’re never going to believe this. Mere weeks ago, Giorgio Armani made the declaration every chic native has longed to hear: “Fashion has arrived in Dallas.” Come again? The city may be the state’s most stylish (two words: Neiman Marcus), but it’s still a distant cousin to the four
The Filter: Dining
New and Noteworthy
Casa Colombia, Austin and Grooves Restaurant And Lounge, Houston
Web Exclusive
Me and Tommy Lee
No Country for Old Men is Tommy Lee Jones’s new movie. I don’t think he’ll be granting me an interview anytime soon.
Web Exclusive
Star Power
Tennis great and celebrity Anna Kournikova talks about retirement, working with kids, and coming to Texas.
Web Exclusive
Bill Cunningham
Inspired by the popularity of a panel on Texas crime literature hosted by the Southwestern Writers Collection in 2004, editors Bill Cunningham, Steven L. Davis, and Rollo K. Newsom have compiled Lone Star Sleuths: An Anthology of Texas Crime Fiction, with thirty excerpts from the likes of Rick Riordan, David
Web Exclusive
A Man and a River
Executive editor S. C. Gwynne talks about running the Brazos River just as legendary author John Graves did fifty years ago.
Grazing Across Texas: Rod, Gun & Ranch Cooking
Tosh Brown will be the first to admit that he has no business writing a cookbook.“We were very careful to put ‘photography and commentary by Tosh Brown,’” he said with a smile. “These are not my recipes. There are a lot of people out there that know me that know
Pat's Pick
Trio
It was the long-ago winter when my family’s two superannuated cats expired right before the holidays that Mother issued a surprising edict: “We’re having Christmas dinner at the Four Seasons this year.” It took three days to pry the reason out of her: She couldn’t bear the thought of
Web Exclusive
Net Gains
Texas Monthly Intern Kyle Adams talks to A&M Coach Mark Turgeon and UT Coach Rick Barnes about what fans can expect in the upcoming season.
Miscellany
Editor's Letter
The Center Holds
Several of this month’s letters to the editor, responding to our September issue, fall into two categories: those from angry liberals and those from angry conservatives. The libs rabidly attack Gary Cartwright for refusing to canonize Austin’s own Vegan de Milo, shopping center owner Jeanne Daniels, whose commitment
Roar of the Crowd
Portrait of a Lady
Texas lost one of its true legends with the passing of Lady Bird Johnson [“A Lady First,” September 2007]. It is all the more disappointing when you look around at today’s landscape and find it lacking in those larger-than-life personalities who shaped the mystique of this great state. Today’s
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