They Spoke Volumes
We asked writers around the state a series of bookish questions. Here are a few of their answers.
Reviews, profiles, and interviews that capture the diverse voices adding to Texas’s rich literary tradition
We asked writers around the state a series of bookish questions. Here are a few of their answers.
What are the best Texas books ever written? Here’s my list—now let the sparks fly.
My list of the best Texas books ever written.
Larry McMurtry, Bill Wittliff, and Jeff Guinn turn to familiar turf—the Old West—to challenge old-school readers.
An exclusive excerpt from Domingo Martinez’s new memoir, “My Heart Is a Drunken Compass,” in which a drink is always close at hand and the battle against the bottle is never fully won.
Two takes on our conservative ways.
With its tight prose, waitress heroine, and stinging insight into urban life, Merritt Tierce’s debut marks an exciting turn in Texas literature.
When the National Book Critics Circle gave the Austin writer Rolando Hinojosa its lifetime achievement award, it was simply taking note of what many of us had known for years.
Journalist Chris Tomlinson delves into the parallel histories of two Texas families with the same last name—one black, one white.
Energy reporter Russell Gold gives us a reason to give a frak about fracking.
The former Waco basketball star now adds "author" to her list of impressive accomplishments.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, should rank alongside the smartphone as this young century’s most transformative technology. Over the past decade, so much oil and gas has been unlocked from previously impervious rock that America’s generation-long energy crisis has all but ended. Instead of a crippling strategic vulnerability—dependence on foreign
The rookie-sensation Senator who's totally not thinking about running for President just signed a deal to write his first book.
Former state demographer Steve H. Murdock is back, with a book that should be required reading for all 26,060,796 of us.
BiblioTech, one of the country's first all-digital public libraries, aims to reach more readers by hosting their entire collection on the cloud. Patrons may choose from 18,000 digital titles and can check out Kindles, too.
Novelist Leila Meacham hopes for another best-seller with the forthcoming Somerset, a prequel to her megahit debut novel, Roses.
Bum Steers is an attitude! Bum Steers is a lifestyle! And, best of all, now Bum Steers is a chance to shop!
It's supposed to be a bad time for print. Yet new literary journals and small presses keep cropping up in the state's capital.
Our guide to some idiosyncratic books with local connections for every personality on your gift list.
And a list of all of the Texas-related books and Texas-born authors featured at the festival.
Curious about the reading habits of Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff? Read on.
The good, the bad, and the most self-indulgent of this year’s JFK assassination books.
Novelist James Carlos Blake, who has been compared to Cormac McCarthy, returns to his prolific writing pace, releasing two books in less than a year.
David Berg's new memoir, "Run, Brother, Run," revisits the killing of his older brother, Alan, who was slain outside of Houston in 1968.
The Navy SEAL sniper was killed at a gun range in Erath County before he completed his second book, "American Gun." Now his wife and co-authors are determined to share the story they knew Kyle wanted to tell.
Philipp Meyer is impressing the literary world with his second novel, The Son, a multigenerational epic about an oil and ranching dynasty in Texas that is being called the most ambitious Texas novel in years. But how did this East Coast-reared man manage to capture the spirit of the state?
“By the time I’d been with the band a year, I was treated the same as any other Comanche.” An excerpt from Philipp Meyer’s epic new novel, “The Son.”
Taylor Stevens gets her revenge, one best-selling thriller at a time.
The longtime Texas Monthly writer—and novelist and screenwriter and UT professor—discusses his new collection of essays.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s new book on Scientology, Going Clear, arrives on shelves today amid a swarm of controversy.
Announced a judge who himself has 1,000 first editions in his personal library.
For thirty years, when she wasn’t writing books or winning genius grants, Sandra Cisneros has been pushing and prodding San Antonio to become a more sophisticated (and more Mexican) city. Now she’s leaving town. did she succeed?
Thoughts on the gradual march of civility and urban sprawl across the lost frontier.
Including books from Dallas resident Ben Fountain, UT-Michener Center alum Kevin Powers, South Texas native Domingo Martinez, and the legendary LBJ biographer Robert Caro.
The prize-winning author, who recently sold off nearly 300,000 books, plans to close three of his four stores. What happens to tiny Archer City now?
Actor Kyle Chandler was among the fans at the BookPeople, where Friday Night Lights author H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger read from his new book Father's Day.
Nearly six years after her death, Ann Richards, who is the subject of a new documentary, book, and stage play, still casts a long shadow.
Senior editor John Spong talked with Jan Reid about his new Ann Richards biography, ‘Let the People In.’
As Jan Reid's new biography makes clear, Ann Richards was one of the most magnetic politicians of the past thirty years. So why didn’t she leave much of a legacy?
Robert Caro on LBJ. Marcus Luttrell on war. Douglas Brinkley on Walter Cronkite. James Donovan on the Alamo. Steve Coll on ExxonMobil. Ben Fountain on a surreal Dallas Cowboys halftime show. Dan Rather and Sissy Spacek on themselves. For some reason, May has turned out to be a month like
Why doesn’t Texas’s greatest movie actress get the respect she deserves?
The latest Alamo chronicler offers a glimpse of his reference library.
The author of Cronkite answers the question: What’s the most surprising thing you learned about Walter Cronkite?
Six interesting facts about the retired CBS news anchorman found in his new book, Rather Outspoken.
The fourth volume of an epic LBJ biography stirs more controversy.
What lies beneath the hood of ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil company?
The author of Private Empire: ExxonMobile and American Power answers the question: In terms of difficulty, how would you compare reporting on Exxon with the reporting you did for your previous book, The Bin Ladens?
The acclaimed author is publishing his first novel, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. And some of his neighbors may not be happy.
The author of Lone Survivor still has his gun at the ready.
The New Yorker writer talks about his latest book, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power.