Books
December 11, 2019
Fox Host Brian Kilmeade’s New Book About the Alamo Isn’t Fair and Balanced
The best-selling author offers a lively—but drastically incomplete—account of nineteenth-century Texas history.
Books
Reviews, profiles, and interviews that capture the diverse voices adding to Texas’s rich literary tradition
Arts & Entertainment
December 2, 2019
Chef Aarón Sánchez Hasn’t Forgotten His Texas Roots
The El Paso native and celebrity chef is coming home in support of his new memoir, ‘Where I Come From.’
The National Podcast of Texas
November 27, 2019
Ryan Holiday’s New Book About Achieving Stillness Is Not at All About Meditation
On this week’s National Podcast of Texas, the author of ‘Stillness Is the Key’ details a powerful antidote for our noisy times.
Books
November 19, 2019
A Changing Austin, as Seen by One of England’s Leading Novelists
An excerpt from Texas expat Benjamin Markovits’s ‘Christmas in Austin’ casts a sharp eye on his hometown.
Arts & Entertainment
November 15, 2019
Texas Monthly Recommends: A Time Traveling Novel Based in Galveston
Plus: JM Stevens’ solo debut album, a documentary examining the border crisis through art, and an El Paso cereal bar.
Books
November 5, 2019
Houston Expert Explores How to Feed Kids in a Highly Processed World
In ‘Kid Food,’ writer Bettina Elias Siegel discusses the challenges of ensuring that today’s children are eating nutritious diets.
Books
November 1, 2019
Reinventing the Canon: Why It’s More Important Than Ever to Read Latinx Literature
Add these crucial Texas authors to your reading list.
Books
October 30, 2019
A San Antonio CEO on the Worst Years of His Life
Geekdom's Lorenzo Gomez grapples with his hellish time in middle school.
Books
October 24, 2019
Karen Olsson: Novelist, Journalist, and . . . Math Nerd?
In her third book, ‘The Weil Conjectures,’ the Austin author revisits the equations of her youth.
Books
October 23, 2019
A Garden Grows in West Texas
The coffee table book ‘Marfa Gardens’ proves that there’s more to desert flora than cactus and agave.
Books
October 23, 2019
Texas Book Festival 2019
Not sure what to do this weekend at the state’s biggest literary gathering? We’ve got nearly three dozen ideas.
Arts & Entertainment
October 22, 2019
W.K. Stratton’s Lifelong Obsession With ‘The Wild Bunch’
The Austin author traces the history of the movie that changed his life.
Books
October 22, 2019
Photos of East Austin, Before the Boom
A new book celebrates a pair of well-established African American and Latino communities that are disappearing from Texas’s fastest-growing city.
Books
October 21, 2019
Severo Perez’s Complex Valentine to San Antonio
The filmmaker turned novelist revisits the city of his youth, in all its pain and glory.
Arts & Entertainment
October 21, 2019
The Secret Side of Janis Joplin
Holly George-Warren's biography of the Port Arthur singer covers the drugs and excess, of course. But it also uncovers the hard-working professional hidden behind all the live-hard-die-fast trappings.
Books
October 21, 2019
Has Christopher Brown Seen Houston’s Future?
In his second science fiction novel, the Austin writer envisions a dystopia ruled by Space City lawyers.
Books
October 21, 2019
How Ire’ne Lara Silva Learned to Flip the Script
The Edinburg author's latest poetry collection forges strength from a childhood filled with pain.
Books
October 21, 2019
Rachel Monroe’s Life of Crime
In ‘Savage Appetites,’ the Marfa journalist tries to understand her—and other women’s—obsession with violent criminal acts.
Books
October 21, 2019
Attica and Tembi Locke on Texas Memories, Dealing With Writer’s Block, and the Joy of Luby’s
The Houston sisters turned Los Angeles neighbors talk about writing, Texas, and their father’s famous potato recipe.
Books
October 21, 2019
Shaun Hamill Keeps the Horror Close to Home
'A Cosmology of Monsters' brings the haunted house novel to the Texas suburbs.
Books
October 21, 2019
Paul Tough on the Problems With College Today
The author of "The Years That Matter Most" spent a lot of time at UT-Austin—where he saw reason for hope.
Arts & Entertainment
October 21, 2019
Why Earl Campbell Matters
A new biography of ‘The Tyler Rose’ demonstrates that the legendary running back’s insistence that he wasn’t a transformative racial figure was too modest by half.
The National Podcast of Texas
October 21, 2019
Lara Prescott: “Literature Has Lost None of Its Power to Change Hearts and Minds.”
On this week’s National Podcast of Texas, author Lara Prescott on ’The Secrets We Kept,’ a novel about a real-life CIA plot to publish ’Doctor Zhivago.’
News & Politics
October 16, 2019
How One Desperate Energy Executive Launched the Fracking Revolution
When his Houston-based company was on the ropes, George Mitchell pushed his engineers to resuscitate a declining North Texas gas field. The solution they came up with transformed the world.
Food & Drink
October 16, 2019
The New ‘Texas Seafood’ Is the Ultimate Guide to Gulf Fish
Houston’s PJ and Benchalak Srimart Stoops tell you everything you need to know, from catching to cooking.
Arts & Entertainment
October 16, 2019
When Texas Democrats Roamed the Earth
Two new books remind us that the Lone Star State once had a nationally powerful tradition of liberalism.
Books
October 11, 2019
Trapped Inside Don Hertzfeldt’s World
The reclusive Austin-based animator is reissuing his cult graphic novel.
Arts & Entertainment
October 10, 2019
Illustrator Arturo Torres Brings Basketball, Movies, and Other Things to Life on the Page
The Dallas-based artist has collaborated with writer Shea Serrano on multiple ‘New York Times’ best-sellers.
Arts & Entertainment
October 8, 2019
Cristela Alonzo’s ‘Mixtape Memoir’ Is an Ode to Her South Texas Roots
South Texas–born Comedian Cristela Alonzo tells the story of her life through songs.
Arts & Entertainment
October 4, 2019
Texas Monthly Recommends: Matthew McConaughey in So-Bad-It’s-Good “Serenity”
Plus, a melancholy Norah Jones duet, Austin singer Christelle Bofale’s EP, and chef Aarón Sanchéz’s new memoir.
The National Podcast of Texas
September 23, 2019
Austin Kleon: “Scumbags and Lowlifes Can Create Beautiful Art”
On this week’s National Podcast of Texas, a conversation with the writer/illustrator about sustaining a creative life, the state of self-help, and the perils of cancel culture.
Arts & Entertainment
September 20, 2019
Texas Monthly Recommends: ‘Undone’ and Its Rotoscoped San Antonio
Plus, a bakery perfect for late-night cravings and an interactive Austin literary experience.
Being Texan
September 18, 2019
‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Author Stephen Harrigan Explains Why Davy Crockett Was the Taylor Swift of His Day (Sort Of)
The Austin author on his fascination with H.L. Hunt, his inability to hate Santa Anna, and how he met the challenges of writing a history of Texas for the twenty-first century.
Being Texan
September 18, 2019
The New Texas History
Stephen Harrigan’s ’Big Wonderful Thing’ sweeps away decades of mythmaking. Are we ready to remember the Alamo—and the Texas Rangers and the Civil War—differently?
Being Texan
September 18, 2019
‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Excerpt: “Sediciosos”
In the early twentieth century, long-simmering tensions in South Texas erupted into a grim and brutal race war.
Being Texan
September 18, 2019
‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Excerpt: “Savage Ware Fare”
After breaking away from Mexico, the combative Republic of Texas took its fight against Native Americans to the heart of Comanchería, led by a group of militiamen who called themselves Rangers.
Being Texan
September 18, 2019
‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Excerpt: “Reason Had Left Its Throne”
As the Civil War violently divided the nation, Texan turned against Texan.
The National Podcast of Texas
September 16, 2019
Kimberly King Parsons: “Maybe We Call What I Do Queer Psychedelic Texas Fiction?”
On this week’s National Podcast of Texas, a conversation with the Plano-raised writer whose debut story collection, ‘Black Light,’ has garnered rave reviews.
Books
September 10, 2019
Resurrecting ‘Stories That Must Not Die,’ A Chilling, Seminal Collection of South Texas Folklore
The Tejano goth classic is an essential bilingual teaching aid and trove of the region’s most beloved tales, including “La Llorona.”
Books
August 23, 2019
Kimberly King Parsons’s Fiction Illuminates Intimate Texas Moments
The Lubbock-born author reflects on her debut short story collection, ‘Black Light.’
Arts & Entertainment
August 20, 2019
What This Lifelong Longhorns Fan Learned From the New Earl Campbell Biography
Asher Price’s book about the legendary UT running back is full of surprises.
Books
August 20, 2019
A Filipino Family’s Journey to Texas
A New York Times reporter pushes back against xenophobia with an intimate portrait of a Galveston clan.
The National Podcast of Texas
August 19, 2019
Katherine Center: “I Don’t Want to Write Depressing Fiction”
On this week’s National Podcast of Texas, the Houston author discusses her new novel, ‘Things You Save in a Fire.’
Books
August 9, 2019
Jia Tolentino Explores the Perils of Self-Delusion in Her First Book
The cultural critic, who grew up in Houston, reflects on her debut book.
The National Podcast of Texas
August 5, 2019
Chandler Baker: “Even With #MeToo, Speaking Out Can Be Risky”
On this week’s National Podcast of Texas, the author of ’Whisper Network’ discusses workplace harassment and using fiction to effect change.
Books
July 12, 2019
Houston TV Legend Dave Ward Got By With a Little Help From His Friends
In his new memoir, the longtime KTRK news anchor opens up about his nearly sixty years of Texas broadcasting.
Being Texan
June 28, 2019
Farewell to the “Rambling Boy,” Lonn Taylor
The Fort Davis historian and raconteur knew and loved Texas and its people like no one else.
Arts & Entertainment
June 26, 2019
What Happens When a Houston Energy Guru Messes With the Power Grid?
‘Wall Street Journal’ reporter Russell Gold’s new book, ‘Superpower,’ crafts an engaging narrative of one man’s quest to modernize the American energy business.
Books
June 25, 2019
Remembering Don Graham, the Demanding Critic Who Helped Put Texas Literature on the Map
The UT professor and longtime ’Texas Monthly’ contributor died on Saturday at the age of 79 after a stroke.
Books
June 20, 2019
A Shaman, a Storyteller, a Joyful Boy From Blanco: Memories of Bill Wittliff
We asked friends and colleagues to share their personal recollections of the Texas cultural giant we lost last week.