Books
American Cities Weren’t Revitalized by the White ‘Creative Class.’ Immigrants Made Them Great.
Barrio America weaves together several strands of urban studies to tell a story that transcends what might seem like irrevocable barriers of race and class.
In the 1960s, the Chicago neighborhood of South Lawndale—also known as Little Village—was one of the country’s most extreme examples of white flight. Pro-...Read More
Short Story Contest Winner: ‘Dear Mr. Gottlieb’
Alan Sincic’s story is a searing indictment of corporate America.
The winning entry in our ninth annual short story contest is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Alan Sincic’s “Dear Mr. Gottlieb” is written in an absurdis...Read More
Author William Lopez on How Immigration Raids Inflict Long-Lasting Trauma
“There are 364 other days in the year when people’s lives are shaped by the possibility of deportation or a raid.”
On a cold Thursday morning in November 2013, Santiago (a pseudonym) was leaving his apartment on the top floor of an auto repair shop in Washtenaw County, Michi...Read More
An Observer Staff Guide to the 2019 Texas Book Festival
It’s an embarrassment of riches.
The 24th annual Texas Book Festival, happening this Saturday and Sunday in downtown Austin, is expected to draw approximately 50,000 curious readers to hear fro...Read More
A Bold New Memoir Struggles to Reconcile Faith and Feminism
Cameron Dezen Hammon’s memoir asks how many ways there are to be a Christian woman—and explores the sexism deeply embedded in evangelical churches.
When Cameron Dezen Hammon first becomes a Christian at age 26, she tries to make sense of historical conflicts like the Crusades. How can God be good when his h...Read More
Janis Joplin’s Inimitable Voice
An authoritative new biography explores what drove the iconic Texan singer.
Texas-born rock icon Janis Joplin has been one of American culture’s most compelling figures for more than 50 years, in large part because of the intrigue she...Read More
Sergio Troncoso’s New Book Is a Beautiful Meditation on the Borderlands
A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son reminds readers that the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, so frequently flattened and stereotyped, are as personal as they are political.
In the opening lines of Sergio Troncoso’s new collection of linked short stories, A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son, our narrator, David, stands in front o...Read More
Short Story Contest Finalist: ‘The Prize’
In this dreamlike tale, a struggling poet sabotages the contest he’s judging.
Fernando A. Flores, guest judge for our 2019 short story contest, says his favorite stories are those that “take some kind of risk, strive for something great...Read More
‘How the Gringos Stole Tequila’ Tells the Complex Story of Mexico’s Favorite Spirit
Amid corporate buyouts, environmental threats, and cultural appropriation, can tequila keep its ties to the land?
How the Gringos Stole Tequila is the sort of book title that speaks for itself. “It was kind of tongue-in-cheek,” author and culinary travel writer Chantal ...Read More
What Does Our Fascination with True Crime Say About Us?
Rachel Monroe’s Savage Appetites asks why true-crime stories are so popular, even while they risk exploitation.
True crime has never been more popular. The 2014 hit podcast Serial ignited a burgeoning genre whose recent entries include Netflix shows (Making a Murderer, Un...Read More