Steven G. Kellman
By Steven G. Kellman:
Octavio Solis’ ‘Retablos’ Recounts a ‘Beautiful, Messy’ Youth on the Border
In ‘God Save Texas,’ Lawrence Wright Explains the Lone Star State to Outsiders
The latest entry in the ever-popular explaining-Texas genre, “God Save Texas” is a rambling, impressionistic record of ambivalence.
In 1845, when the United States was hotly debating the imminent annexation of Texas and the prospect of a war with Mexico, Abraham Lincoln wrote to a constituent: “I perhaps ought to say that individually I never was much interested … Read More
Bill McKibben’s ‘Radio Free Vermont’ Is an Activist’s Lark
Not so much plotted as rendered as a Hardy Boys caper, “Radio Free Vermont” is a fond fantasy of liberal values.
Not so much plotted as rendered as a Hardy Boys caper, “Radio Free Vermont” is a fond fantasy of liberal values. Read More
In ‘Texas Blood,’ a Ramble Through Borderland History
Texas expat Roger D. Hodge returns home to discover a “palimpsest of lost and vanishing lifeways.”
Texas expat Roger D. Hodge returns home to discover a “palimpsest of lost and vanishing lifeways.” Read More
Ezra Greenspan Rescues William Wells Brown from Obscurity in New Biography
Except in households steeped in African-American history, William Wells Brown is not a household name. Ezra Greenspan hopes to change that with a new biography. Read More
Robert Zarestsky Reminds Us Why Albert Camus is Still Worth Reading
Zaretsky identifies Camus as a moralist, not a moralizer, one who poses questions rather than imposes answers. Read More
Bexar County Reinvents the Library
On Sept. 14, San Antonion opened BiblioTech, the world’s first all-electronic public library. Read More
Hat and Cattle: Philipp Meyer’s The Son
For all its shit-kicking egalitarianism and snorting at Yankee snobs, there is something about Texas that induces reverence for royalty. Read More
A Nuclear Family Comes Apart
The toxic radiation emitted by the Hardings of Houston comes from the fission of a nuclear family. The fission also accounts for the power that Andrew Porter harnesses in his debut novel, In Between Days. Once the hottest architect in … Read More
Blind Guilt
Though he answers to the name Rowdy, the narrator of five of the stories in David McGlynn’s new collection is an obedient and subservient son. However, a glimpse of his father in a compromising embrace with the family housekeeper distresses … Read More