For You to See the Stars, by Radney Foster

Radney Foster is a genius. His album Del Rio, TX 1959 is one of those rare records where every single song is brilliant; four of the ten tracks made the Top 40 country charts ("Nobody Wins" was the highest, peaking at #2) but the other six are equally amazing. "A Fine Line" (not one of the four that charted) might be my favorite, but it is honestly difficult to rank them. I wore the CD out when it was released, and it remains a staple in my playlists today. Recently Foster played the Saxon Pub here in Austin (a great venue that attracts singer-songwriters; my wife and I have also seen The Band of Heathens, Walt Wilkins, and The Accidentals among others) and I was finally able to catch him live. Not only did he sing a great set, but he read excerpts from For You to See the Stars, a book of short stories he'd written as a companion to his album of the same name. After the show I snapped up a copy of the book and quickly devoured it and the accompanying music. Out of ten stories, five literally made me cry and one made me laugh out loud. All are exceptional. I truly hope Foster continues to write—both songs and books.

First Sentence (from the Foreword):

The bus was an old Eagle.

The Last Sheriff in Texas, by James P. McCollom

This book chronicles the changes the state of Texas underwent after WWII, moving from mostly rural to mostly urban, and seeing the cowboy fade from a real profession to a role in the movies. Sheriff Vail Ennis of Bee County was a violent, uncompromising man with a flair for violence—he shot and killed eight men while in office between 1944 and 1952. Johnny Barnhart was raised in Bee County, but while attending the University of Texas uncovered a passion for civil rights that set him apart from his conservative neighbors. These two icons clashed during the election of 1952, forcing citizens to choose between frontier justice and law and order, changing Texas politics forever.

The story is told primarily via interviews and reminiscences with a healthy amount of historical context thrown in for good measure. I found it to be compelling (if very repetitive), although I can easily see how someone that isn't familiar with life on the Texas Costal Plain might find it slow and meandering. The book is part true crime, part political history, part biography, and part memoir resulting in a style that is a bit offbeat. On one page there will be a excerpt from a newspaper article, and on the next conversational dialogue from people long since dead. I found this see-sawing between fact and fabrication hard to get used to at first, but eventually settled down and enjoyed the story.

First Sentence:

The man who shot the sheriff was Roy Hines, thirty-four, ex-con, a grifter on his way from Oklahoma to Mexico.

See How Small, by Scott Blackwood

This novel is loosely based on the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders here in Austin. It is very difficult to read, raw and emotional throughout. The rape and murder of three teenagers is graphically described, and truly horrifying. Each chapter is told from the point of view from different people affected by the crime, including the family of the victims, the driver of the getaway car, the addled homeless witness, the firefighter that discovered the bodies, and the ghosts of the girls themselves. Nobody has a happy ending, and there isn't a firm conclusion—paralleling fact the actual murders have remained unsolved. The prose is haunting and powerful, but depressing and uncomfortable at the same time. Not what I'd call a beach read, but well worth your time.

First Sentence:

We have always lived here, though we pretend we've just arrived.

Sixth Street, by Allen Childs, M.D.

Sixth Street is the heart of Austin's entertainment district. While it has changed a lot in the twenty-five or so years since I first moved to town, in many ways it hasn't changed at all: the names of the bars and clubs change, but the feel of the area remains the same. With this book of annotated photographs and drawings dating back to 1840, though, it is clear the history of Sixth Street is long and varied.

When stagecoaches roamed the land Sixth Street was the main east-west thoroughfare in Austin, largely because it was the avenue that had the fewest hills while being far enough from the river to avoid flooding. As such, hotels, saloons, and storefronts occupied a lot of the real estate, lasting until the entertainment boom and revitalization of the area in the late 1970's. The Driskill Hotel remains popular today and the legacy of the saloons is obvious, but while there is still the odd retail store today, it is hard to believe Austin's first JCPenney and HEB were located on this road!

The narrative of the book isn't very fluid but the photos more than make up for this. I love picking this up and just thumbing through it, looking at the history and imagining how much things have changed over the years. If you've spent any time in Austin, this thin tome will put a smile on your face.

First Sentence (from the Introduction):

East Sixth Street, now a hub of the live music capital of the world, had its humble beginning as a dirt road, the only level path from the east.

The History of Beer in America, by Bill Yenne

I love beer. Apparently, so does Yenne! He does a good job of capturing the general history of brewing in America, concentrating on the larger companies. The story was interesting, but the writing felt oddly amateurish or rushed. Paragraphs ramble a bit, especially when describing the many, many mergers the industry experienced. Fun anecdotes are started, but not entirely finished; for instance, the mystery surrounding the meaning of the “33” found on Rolling Rock labels is mentioned, but not the resolution. The physical dimensions of the book were a bit annoying as well; over 13" wide (and only 8" tall!) made it close to a yard wide when opened, which was clumsy to hold and read. The large area was, however, excellent for displaying the fantastic collection of photos of breweries, taverns, labels, and memorabilia through the years. The pictures alone are well worth your time, and more than made up for the other, minor imperfections. So crack open a cold Shiner Bock, Dead Guy Ale, Arrogant Bastard, or Palo Santo Marron and spend an afternoon exploring an important facet of our history.

First Sentence:

Americans have been brewing and enjoying beer for centuries.

Echo Burning, by Lee Child

Another Reacher novel, another winner. Set in Far West Texas, Reacher gets mixed up with an abused wife that asks him to do her a favor: kill her husband. From there a mystery slowly unfolds that is truly puzzling, leading to the inevitable shoot-em-up at the conclusion. The ending is quite predictable, but the journey there is fun.

I live in Texas, and I love it. Austin is a wonderful city: vibrant, alive, and largely accepting of varying lifestyles. The Texas described in Echo Burning is not at all like that: dusty and dry, filled with cowboys, with bigotry and racism a way of life. Sadly, I know this stereotype still exists in all to many parts of the state (not to mention rural areas everywhere), but I dislike reading one-sided portrayals like this. The only redeeming character other than Reacher was a lesbian, vegetarian, attorney from Harvard—about as far from a southern redneck as you can get. I hope at some point Reacher ends up in Austin where a different sort of Texas can be shared.

First Sentence:

There were three watchers, two men and a boy.

Shine On, by Mike Renfro

I love beer. My first Shiner Bock was opened shortly after moving to Austin in 1988 and I’ve never looked back. Dogfish Head, Victory, Rogue, and Stone craft some of my favorite offerings, but the little brewery in Shiner, Texas holds a special place in my world. After reading this photo-filled coffee table book, I see that I’m nowhere close to alone in that belief!

Shine On gives the corporate biography of the Spoetzl Brewery, founded in 1909. The story is actually quite interesting, giving a good overview of the industry in America as well as the details of this particular business. The number of times the brewery was on the verge of bankruptcy is surprising when looking at its success today; as the author says, “It’s a story that would ring of overdone fiction if it weren’t for the simple fact the whole damn thing’s true.” Today, Shiner Bock is seemingly everywhere; it is hard to imagine that it was nearly 1980 before it was actually brewed full-time.

The photographs that accompany the text are plentiful and include many sent in from loyal drinkers giving a friendly feel to the book which meshes well with the story being told. One of my favorites was of a Volkswagen Bug painted to resemble a bee; when Shiner introduced their hefeweisen (then called Shiner Honey Wheat) they built a “buzz” by sending these “bee-hicles” to local bars and encouraging people to try the new beer. A friend of mine and I dragged our families all over San Antonio chasing the slugbugs and getting free beer. That was a very fun night!

Rich details, colorful photographs, and fond memories make Shine On a refreshing read. It has a permanent place on our coffee table and brings a smile to my face each time I crack it open. If you enjoy Texas history and a good beer, open a cold one and spend an afternoon with this book.

First Sentence:

Just for grins, turn the air conditioning off for a few days.

100 Things Longhorn Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, by Jenna McEachern

As most folks that know me can attest, I do love my Longhorns! I finished this the day before the first game of the season and it certainly helped to put me in the right frame of mind. It should really have been called 100 Things Longhorn Football Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die because virtually every item is either about football or strongly related, but then football is the lifeblood of the University so I suppose that should be expected!

The book is a series of vignettes covering the history and traditions of Longhorn football. Sections on places (Memorial Stadium, the Drag, the Cotton Bowl), people (Vince Young, Clyde Littlefield, Rooster Andrews), and important years and decades make up the bulk of it, and McEachern admirably captures the essence of them all. For instance, when discussing the Texas-OU game she mentions Robert Heard’s quote, “There is no rivalry to rival this one.” She follows it with, “Just reading those quotes [sic] makes you want to drive to Dallas tomorrow. It makes your mouth water, makes your heart pump faster, and makes your breathing shallow.” Well said! Another fun story: Yards After Contact is a common football statistic; it turns out that UT was reportedly the first school to track it, although at the time it was called “Yards Made by [Earl] Campbell After First Hit by a Tackler.”

In places this book was entirely too repetitive and could have used some judicious editing. At one point we learn “the day Texas football was truly born was November 30, 1893, when The University of Texas Foot Ball Club accepted a challenge from the Dallas Foot Ball Club, the self-proclaimed champions of Texas.” On the very next page we are told “no game was more crucial than the very first one, when the Texas Varsity stormed into hostile territory to challenge the Dallas Foot Ball Club, self-proclaimed "champions of Texas."” This particular tidbit gets mentioned elsewhere too, but to be found on facing pages is a bit too redundant for me. Another oddity was the seeming lack of logic behind what items had dedicated sections and what ones were combined into overviews. For instance, the World’s Largest Texas Flag didn’t get it’s own section—it had to share with the Hex Rally and Pig Bellmont in the More Traditions category. However, both the color PMS 159 (burnt orange, naturally) and the tunnel at the Cotton Bowl got their own entries—with the actual Cotton Bowl getting yet another! Seems like odd logic to me, but the stories were all still entertaining.

First Sentence:

The University of Texas was legislated to be great.

The Men's Guide to the Women's Bathroom, by Jo Barrett

I’m not quite sure how this found it’s way onto my bookshelf, but I’m glad it did. A lighthearted novel telling the story of a jilted writer who is trying to get her love life and career back on track. While not my normal fare, this was a lot of fun. Set in Austin, it has a strong local feel, with the Taco Shack, Captain Quackenbush’s, The Continental Club, Moonshine, and Little Woodrow’s all getting visited. The humor, however, is what really makes this enjoyable; Claire St. John (the lead character) is a cross between Maddie Hayes and Lucy Ricardo: part sarcasm and part slapstick. She speaks to the reader in little asides that the other occupants in the scene don’t hear; this breaking of the fourth wall is used to great effect and damn funny.

During the course of the story, Claire decides to write a novel of her own from which we get periodic excerpts. Her book shares the title with the real one, telling men what happens in the women’s restroom. From the opening chapter of the book-within-a-book:

Listen up gentlemen. I’m going to tell you the big secret right now. I’m going to unlock the vault. So pay attention.
You always ask why we (women) go to the bathroom together in groups.
What could we be doing in there? you wonder.
Plotting to take over Wall Street?
The Military Industrial Complex?
Does Hillary Clinton have us all in a huddle? “Okay ladies, here’s what you’re going to do. Every single one of you is going to vote for me for president.”
Well, the answer gentleman, is yes.
Yes, we are plotting against you.
We should not be left alone to our own devices.
We are very, very dangerous.

Funny stuff! My favorite quote though, for what I hope are obvious reasons, is this one: “Every woman knows that a guy who actually reads is a rare and special creature, indeed.”

First Sentence:

The greatest advice I’ve ever heard was in the women’s bathroom.

Friday Night Lights, by H. G. Bissinger

Considering I love both football and reading, it is surprising I hadn’t gotten around to Friday Night Lights. I’ve never watched the TV show, but I liked the movie, so when I saw the book in the bargain bin I picked it up. Friday Night Lights follows the Odessa Permian high school football team through their 1988 season. Interspersed with the history of a racist-leaning Odessa we meet the coach and all the major players of the team. Boobie Miles is a highly recruited fullback that is star of the team until he blows out his knee; after that he is ostracized by the universities and vanishes into a depression. Brian Chavez is the Harvard-bound valedictorian; Don Billingsley is a troublemaker trying to live up to his father’s legend. Ivory Christian is a linebacker that doesn’t much care for football, and yet is the only player to receive a Division I football scholarship. Gary Gaines is the coach and by far the most interesting persona detailed: the pressure to win in this football-obsessed town is amazingly intense, and Bissinger does an excellent job at portraying the strain Gaines was constantly experiencing.

As interesting as the individual and team stories are, the emotion of small-town Texas is what makes the book stand out. “As the black wave of the Permian players moved out into the middle of the field, eight thousand other souls who had filled the home side rose to give a standing ovation. This moment, and not January first, was New Year’s day.” This passage more than any other captures the essence of how football is loved by Texans, including me. Great book; I’m sorry I waited so long to read it.

First Sentence:

In the beginning, on a dog-day Monday in the middle of August when the West Texas heat congealed in the sky, there were only the stirrings of dreams.

Road, River, and Ol’Boy Politics, by Linda Scarbrough

In 1920, Williamson County was agrarian, Democratic, and dominated by the towns of Taylor and Granger. Today, of course, Georgetown and Round Rock are at the heart of a sprawling suburban Republican stronghold. This book traces this transformation, largely a result of North San Gabriel Dam and Interstate 35. This is a compelling and fascinating read. Once I started I had a difficult time putting it down—surprising for a history text! I especially enjoyed reading tidbits such as how RR620 was a dirt road or FM1431 was a backwater until they received exits on IH-35. Living in that part of the world now, it is hard to imaging these major thoroughfares being anything else. Scarbrough also goes into a lot of detail on the politics behind the dam and the interstate; it was fascinating to read about LBJ and J. J. Pickle working at a local level. Maps and several before/after pictures round out the book, complementing the text nicely. All in all, this is an excellent story telling a lesser known slice of Texas history.

First Sentence:

Out in the Gulf of Mexico, below the Southern tip of the United States, a hurricane stirred.

D Magazine's Dallas: The 30 Greatest Stories Ever Told, edited by McGill and Rogers

D Magazine is like most local interest magazines: it covers a range of topics including politics, crime, business, and lifestyles aimed at the affluent local (in this case, Dallas) crowd. To celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2004, the periodical released a book containing 30 stories that span the publication’s history. I grew up in the Dallas area and was looking forward to reading this, but many of the stories are badly dated. Blackie Sherrod’s ode to Jack Proctor for instance didn’t have much meaning to me because I’d never heard of Proctor. Tom Stephenson’s description of the Cullen Davis murder investigation was a compelling read, but because it was written before the trial actually took place it was a frustrating finish that left me hanging. Mike Shropshire’s examination of the Clayton Williams gubernatorial campaign suffers in a similar fashion, as the election hadn’t yet taken place. This book would have been much more interesting if the editors had provided introductions or epilogues to illuminate the vignettes. If you spent any time in the Metroplex during the 80’s or 90’s then you might enjoy reading this—despite the tone of this review, I did like this book—but without a connection to the area (and the lack of any expository text) I suspect you’ll find this a bit of a mess.

First Sentence (from the Foreward):

It seemed a simple task: pick the 30 greatest stories ever told in the pages of D Magazine.

One Heartbeat II, by Mack Brown and Bill Little

From the title I knew this was a follow-up to One Heartbeat, but I expected more of a sequel rather than a rehash. The first two-thirds of One Heartbeat II are identical to the previous volume; the remaining chapters tell the story of the Texas Longhorn’s 2005 National Championship season. While this is a fascinating and exciting story, I admit I was hoping for more. That said, being a Longhorn Foundation member and football season ticket holder for over 15 years, I loved reading about how the team battled through the season and won the crystal football! If you haven’t read the first book, read this one instead. If you have read the first one, read this one anyway!

First Sentence (from the Prologue):

It was twilight at the house on Waters Edge, and the gentle breezes coming off the lake left only a muted memory of the sweltering sun that had begun the day.

One Heartbeat, by Mack Brown and Bill Little

I read this well over a year ago and could have sworn I wrote about it then. Apparently I didn’t, though, as it isn’t anywhere to be found. It seems unlikely that Blogger lost a post, so I’m going to assume I simply forgot. I certainly prefer that to the idea that I’m randomly losing my posts!

This was a fascinating read—part-biography and part-psychology. It is largely a collection of anecdotes that demonstrates the lessons Mack Brown tries to impart to his athletes, but with a healthy dose of the career path Mack has taken thrown in. I found the story of how and why he left North Carolina for Texas quite interesting. About this time every year we see the coaching carousel fire up and often we hear coaches claim loyalty one day only to leave the next. We get the inside story of what happened when Mack changed jobs. Recruiting, teamwork, dealing with adversity, attitude, and honesty are some of the other topics tackled here. One of my favorite lessons applies to parenting as much as it does coaching: “It is all about training people ... when there is nobody else around, to make the right choice.” One Heartbeat will appeal to many people: coaches and managers looking for ways to lead others, fans of college football, and of course, anyone with Longhorn pride!

First Sentence:

To the farmer, it is a prayer for rain even when meteorologists say it won’t.

Raising Cole, by Marc Pittman with Mark Wangrin

This was a very difficult book to read. Not because of complicated sentence structure or an unnecessarily large vocabulary, but because of raw emotion. Cole Pittman was a football player at the University of Texas that was killed when he fell asleep at the wheel of his truck in 2001. His father wrote this story, describing both the amazingly close relationship they shared and the aftermath of his death. It is honest and poignant; I’ll admit I was literally brought to tears while reading the last couple of chapters. The main message of this the author tries to impart is simply to not leave anything unsaid. If you were to die tomorrow, are you sure that everyone you love knows that you love them? A hard question. I probably still haven’t come to terms with my fathers death a few years ago, and this brought a lot of those emotions back. There was too much unsaid between us when my dad died. I am the type to keep my feelings largely to myself; this book helped me to see I need to change that somehow.

The Pittman family uses two interesting concepts to maintain their unusually close relationships: Love Wars and Dead Man’s Talk. Love Wars are simply trying to outdo each other with gestures of affection, like driving 10 hours simply to meet for lunch. Dead Man’s Talk represents no-tell confessions, like talking to a dead man: “A dead man couldn’t repeat what was said. It would not make him angry or stick in his craw. It wouldn’t change an opinion or influence a friendship. It would be said, and it would disappear forever like a breath on a cold night.” Love Wars is a concept I grok and will certainly be using in my life. Dead Man’s Talk is more opaque to me, though; once a meaningful fact is known I don’t see how it can possibly not affect a relationship. Clearly it worked for Marc and Cole Pittman, though.

First Sentence:

It’s been more than three years since I buried my oldest son in the red Louisiana dirt near Minden.

Coach Royal, by Darrell Royal with John Wheat

Darrell Royal is one of the best college football coaches this country has ever seen. While I’m familiar with the legend, I found I didn’t actually know much about the man. This book is far from an in-depth biography, but it does cover at a brisk pace the life of the man known simply as Coach. It is in a conversational format, not a narrative so the content is very easy to follow. I hadn’t realized how much job-hopping Royal did early in his career; after he graduated from (shudder) OU he spent one year each running six different teams before landing at Texas. Can you imagine someone today going from student to head coach at a major university in such a short time? I would have liked to gotten a bit more detail on his thoughts on racism in the 60’s and Title IX, but still enjoyed it for what it was. Any Texas fan will enjoy this, especially after the recent big win!

First Sentence:

I began my conversations with Coach Royal in the spring of 1993 to record in his own words the story of his legendary career at the University of Texas.