Books
Beasts of the Border
Invasive Species Have Reshaped Texas. Now What?
From parakeets to fire ants, nilgai to tamarisk trees, invasives have integrated into the state's ecosystems — and managing them means asking hard questions.
In March, I drove down to the Sabal Palm Sanctuary on the southernmost border of Texas, where Brazilian bougainvillea shimmers over the seasonal marshes. I was ...Read More
A New Crime Novel Asks Tough Questions About Revenge and Redemption
Texas Innocence Network founder David Dow’s first foray into fiction explores the trauma of a wrongful conviction.
Prison may be society’s most blatant example of a backfire mission — achieving the opposite of its rehabilitative intent. Very few who are incarcerated come...Read More
A New Book on the American Political Divide Calls, Unconvincingly, for Civility
The authors of Polarized are thoughtful exemplars of a lost ethic who care more about commonality than victory.
Let’s say you wanted to host a public conversation that would demonstrate civil disagreement and the search for common ground between two people with seemingl...Read More
Swamp City Serenade
Bryan Washington’s remarkable debut book, "Lot," captures Houston in meticulous, tenderhearted detail.
The wonder of Houston can sometimes be difficult to explain to those not born and bred in the Bayou City. Yes, it is indeed sprawling, as so many have said pejo...Read More
A Sweeping History of Texas Blues Celebrates Little-Known Musicians
More than 50 years in the making, The Blues Come to Texas is an encyclopedic tome stuffed with surprising trivia.
I have a faded copy of the July|August 1965 issue of the magazine Blues Unlimited, which includes an essay, “Working on the Project – T for Texas; T for Toi...Read More
Elizabeth McCracken’s ‘Bowlaway’ Spins a Dark, Magical Tale of Love, Loss and Bowling
The Austin author is mostly concerned with pain: how we inflict it on each other, and how we keep going, year after year, as our burdens pile up.
“They found a body in the Salford Cemetery, but aboveground and alive.” That thunderbolt of a sentence opens Elizabeth McCracken’s new novel, Bowlaway, an...Read More
Valeria Luiselli’s Third Novel Reckons with the Trauma Inflicted on Migrant Kids
Lost Children Archive is not only an indictment of U.S. immigration policy, but a requiem memorializing every child who has ever lost their right to a childhood.
Early in Valeria Luiselli’s virtuosic new novel, Lost Children Archive, the narrator realizes she has entered an ethical minefield. She makes radio documentar...Read More
‘Last Woman Standing’ Tackles Toxic Masculinity and Keeps the Pages Turning
Amy Gentry’s second crime novel shines with meticulous plotting, complex characters and a subversive feminist message.
Ask any member of the local comedy scene, and they might tell you they’re surprised it’s taken so long for the annual Funniest Person in Austin stand-up con...Read More
The Texas Observer’s Best Features of 2018
Our favorite longreads of the year.
The Texas Observer’s Best Features of 2018 Our favorite longreads of the year. – by Rose Cahalan and Forrest Wilder December 26, 2018 Like children, it...Read More