Dallas’ Hidden History of Terror
A 34-year-old old book set for re-release unearths a painful past with poignant provocation.
book review
‘On Juneteenth’ Refuses Easy Answers About the Importance of People of Color to Texas History
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed offers a historical primer on the conditions that made Juneteenth a holiday and its importance to the nation.
‘Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing’ Tours Dark Places That Are Hard to Call Home
In her debut book of essays, Austin writer Lauren Hough shares stories of growing up in a religious cult, only to escape and find its oppressive edicts visible in a society at large.
Jung Young Moon’s Strange Novels Cross Continents
Each time Dallas-based publisher Deep Vellum releases a book by Korean novelist Jung Young Moon, a new batch of readers gain exposure to his vivid, bewildering work.
‘Luz at Midnight’ Reimagines Blackouts, Polar Vortexes, and Environmental Justice in San Antonio
A recent novel offers a South Texas story for organizers, scholars, poets, and lovers.
Lady Bird Johnson Was About More Than Wildflowers
Using audio diary recordings, new book Hiding in Plain Sight brings the former first lady out of LBJ’s shadow.
Exploring the Rise, Fall, and Lingering Trauma of the Death Penalty in Texas
In his new book, journalist Maurice Chammah ties Texas' embrace of capital punishment to the state's frontier mythos.
SIGN UP FOR TEXAS OBSERVER EMAILS
A New Short-Story Collection Imagines a Texas Town’s Secession
With shades of George Saunders, Why Visit America manages to be both fun and socially perceptive.
‘A Saint From Texas’ Gets the Lone Star State Right
Edmund White chronicles the coming-of-age stories of two Texas sisters in a vivid new novel.
A World Without Immigrant Prisons
Law professor and author César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández wants you to believe it’s possible.