Books
‘The Potlikker Papers’ Wants You to Eat Your Grits with a Side of Discomfort
We Were the Safety Net
From Rachel Pearson's "No Apparent Distress: A Doctor’s Coming of Age on the Front Lines of American Medicine," this excerpt is featured in our April issue.
We Were the Safety Net As a medical student in Galveston, Rachel Pearson learned as much in her work at St. Vincent’s, a student-run charity clinic, as in...Read More
‘Cornyation’ Celebrates San Antonio’s Most Fabulous Fiesta Tradition
Amy Stone’s new history of Cornyation pays tribute to the closeted men and women who started the 66-year-old satirical extravaganza....Read More
Valeria Luiselli’s ‘Tell Me How It Ends’ Is the First Must-Read Book of the Trump Era
The Mexican novelist writes that asylum-seekers come to the U.S. not in search of the American dream, but “to wake up from the nightmare into which they were born.”
The Mexican novelist writes that asylum-seekers come to the U.S. not in search of the American dream, but “to wake up from the nightmare into which they were ...Read More
In the Age of Trump, the First All-Latino Sci-Fi Anthology Hits too Close to Home
Sci-fi has a long tradition of talking about power, dystopian politics and authoritarianism — and it’s never been more necessary.
Sci-fi has a long tradition of talking about power, dystopian politics and authoritarianism — and it’s never been more necessary....Read More
In ‘Blue Texas,’ a Historical Blueprint for Texas Activists
Max Krochmal's new history of multiracial civil rights movements in Texas offers lessons for progressives in the age of Trump, one of which is that demography is not necessarily destiny.
In Krochmal’s view, if progressives today are to triumph over Trumpism, they are going to have to build truly united and lasting grassroots organizations and ...Read More
Austin Writer Ed Ward Celebrates the Black Musicians Who Made Rock
Austin’s Ed Ward Celebrates the Black Musicians Who Made Rock ‘The History of Rock & Roll’ pays tribute to some lesser-known pioneers of...Read More
In ‘Without Getting Killed or Caught,’ Guy Clark Defies Categorization
Clark’s acoustic, finger-picked Southwestern-flavored songs were too countrified for folk and too folky for country — and the Nashville hit factory never knew what the hell to do with him.
Honky-tonk musician Guy Clark defies categorization, argues a compelling new biography....Read More
If These Walls Could Talk
The pictographs of the Pecos River have lasted millennia in a tempestuous desert, surviving mostly in silence. Now an archaeologist has cracked the code — and they can begin to speak again.
The pictographs of the lower Pecos have lasted millennia in a tempestuous desert, surviving mostly in silence. Now that a code has been cracked, and they can be...Read More
Best of the Book Fest: Eight Observer Picks
A hand-picked selection of the best events at the 2016 Texas Book Festival, including the best of Texas crime reads and environmental essentials....Read More