The Texas Observer

It’s a banner week for Texas book lovers, Observer nerds, and acolytes of soon-to-be-75 icon Willie Nelson.

First up, tonight, Wednesday April 23, former Observer editor and current columnist Jim Hightower stops in at Austin’s BookPeople to sign copies of Swim Against the Current, the collection of progressive success stories the straw-hatted populist penned with partner Susan DeMarco. You can read an Observer excerpt of the book here, then drop by and pick up your own autographed copy tonight at 7 p.m.

Next up is veteran journalist and Observer contributor Joe Nick Patoski, signing copies of his forthcoming tome Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, at Waterloo Records in Austin on Friday, April 25, at 5 pm. Patoski has already written definitive biographies of Stevie Ray Vaughan (co-authored with Bill Crawford) and Selena, and his Willie book is set to become the jewel in his triple crown of Texas music biographies.

And finally, come Saturday, April 26, Texas literature legend Bud Shrake, author of the novel Strange Peaches, the mega-selling Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book, and some early (read: pre-archived) journalism for the Observer, celebrates the publication of Land of the Permanent Wave: An Edwin “Bud” Shrake Reader, published by Texas State University’s Southwestern Writers Collection Series, which just happens to include a decades-old piece on Austin’s perennially receeding hip factor originally published in the Observer’s very pages. There’ll be a reading from Shrake’s work at 7 p.m. and a book-signing with Shrake and collection editor Steven L. Davis afterward. The hoo-hah happens on the 7th floor of Texas State’s Alkek Library in San Marcos. Call 512-245-2313 for more info.

While we were all reading Molly Ivins — her books, her columns, her quips — what was Molly reading?

That question isn’t entirely answered by the exhibit that opened a few days ago at Texas State University in San Marcos, but it’s clear she was reading, and reading a lot. “Molly Ivins’ Library,” on view at the campus’ Alkek Library, displays just a smattering of the 3,500 books from Molly’s personal library recently gifted by brother Andrew Ivins, but the collection shows a voracious reader’s catholic breadth, from the touching (a small leather-bound Bible) to the delightful (a book of pastry recipes from the Hill Country’s Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe) to the distasteful (Ann Coulter’s Treason).

Seems Molly had a fondness for biography (LBJ, Mark Twain, Anton Chekhov and Albert Camus all get shelf space) and a soft spot for fiction (novels by P.D. James and Stephen Harrigan, among others).

As befits an author of renown in her own right, Molly’s collection also held inscribed gems from colleagues, cohorts, and well-wishers.

“Wish I could write like you!” former Speaker of the House Jim Wright wrote on his own book’s title page.

“Dear Twin,” Maya Angelou’s inscription began.

“To Molly…who done knows how much I love her,” gushed John Henry Faulk.

Heavyweights like Jim Crumley and Bud Shrake weigh in with signed editions as well, but the capper has to be Nancy Reagan’s mysteriously giddy inscription on her own memoir: “Mooch all you can, baby…”

But as glamorous as the high-end literary back-patting must have been, the fact remains that Molly’s collection was no mere vanity, but a genuine working library.

How can you tell? The presence of The Idiot’s Guide to Positive Dog Training is a dead giveaway.

Observer readers, perhaps more than most, are accustomed to reading the ugly truth, but never let it be said that our writers don’t enjoy making stuff up, too. Case in point: The Truth, the debut novel by former Observer editor and current contributor Geoff Rips, who also happens to sit on the board of the Texas Democracy Foundation, which publishes the Observer, but who has never, ever looked over our shoulder as we pecked out a blog post promoting his book. Honest.

Rips will be signing copies at Austin’s BookPeople (603 N. Lamar) on Thursday, March 27, at 7 p.m., then again next month at San Antonio’s The Twig (5005 Broadway) on Wednesday, April 30, at 5 p.m.

Want a taste before committing your precious time? Check out the excerpt we published in our January books issue.

Regular readers will be pleased to learn that former Observer editor and syndicated columnist/rabble-rouser Jim Hightower is back between hardcovers with Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go with the Flow (John Wiley & Sons). A breezily positive-thinking antidote to the necessary negativity that pervades so much of the non-mainstream muckraking media (mea culpa! mea culpa!), Swim Against the Current unearths the success stories of activists, dissidents and go-their-own-way go-getters who’ve abandoned apathy and found ways to buck whatever oppressive, greed-guided or simply wrongheaded system was telling them no. It’s downright inspirational.

And in the spirit of doing well by doing good, Hightower and co-author/accomplice Susan DeMarco are celebrating the book’s release with a “hoo-rah” and booksigning on Thursday, March 20, from 5 to 8 pm at Austin’s Boggy Creek Farm (3414 Lyons Road; 512-926-4650). There’ll be music by The Lovers and La Strada, plenty of local food and drink, and, as befits an event promoting the work of a former Texas Ag Commissioner, the $10 suggested donation benefits the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

For more Hightower appearances nationwide, check out the schedule on his website.

And just to put it on your radar, look for an excerpt from Swim Against the Current in the April 4 issue of the Texas Observer.