Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River - Books

Lone Star Literature: From the Red River to the Rio Grande Don Graham (Editor) From the Publisher: The biggest collection of writing about Texas yet assembled.A vast land combining the West, the South, and the Border, small dusty towns and gleaming modern cities, Texas has a history and identity all its own, and a mythology bigger than the Lone Star State itself. In this anthology, Don Graham has rounded up a comprehensive collection of writings that provides an overview of the diversity and excellence of Texas literature and reveals its vital contribution to America’s literary landscape: from early accounts of life on the wild frontier told by the likes of Andy Adams and J. Frank Dobie to contemporary fiction by such well-known Texan authors as Larry McMurtry and Sandra Cisneros, as well as recent nonfiction by Molly Ivins, Mary Karr, Robert Caro, and Kinky Friedman. The result is a sometimes rowdy, always artful panorama of fable and truth, humor and pathos—all growing out of the state that continues to stimulate the collective imagination like no other. About the Author:: Don Graham is J. Frank Dobie Regents Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin. A writer-at-large with Texas Monthly Magazine, he is the author of, most recently, Kings of Texas. From The Critics: Library JournalEvery state deserves an anthology edited with the affection Graham (English, Univ. of Texas, Austin; King of Texas; ) has for his adopted home. Divided into four sections-"The West," "The South," "The Border," and "Town and City"-Lone Star Literature defines the various cultural identities, histories, and mythologies of one of America’s most distinctive states. The collection opens with a foreword by Larry McMurtry and segues into frontier stories that set the stage for contemporary works about Texas, with the authors discussing topics such as physical changes in landscape, cultural clashes, politics, history, and defining oneself as Texan. Graham has included fiction and nonfiction by authors such as J. Frank Dobie, Katherine Anne Porter, Robert A. Caro, Ray Gonzalez, Dagoberto Gilb, Donald Barthleme, Rafael Castillo, Naomi Shihab Nye, Mary Karr, Larry L. King, Molly Ivins, and Kinky Friedman. Lone Star Literature is, by turns, humorous, grandiose, larger than life, and touching. Recommended for all libraries in Texas, both public and academic, as well as libraries with large regional collections.-Pam Kingsbury, Univ. of North Alabama, Florence Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. Kirkus ReviewsA sodbusting anthology that hails itself as the biggest collection of writing about Texas yet assembled. Although Larry McMurtry in his foreword doesn’t go quite that far, saying simply that it has "the necessary breadth and catholicity to contain at least something from the many cultures and subcultures that have contributed to Texas literature during the last century," it is a rich assortment of 62 pieces, divided into The West, The South, The Border, and Town and City. Many famed contributors are here, and the oddball or two such as Donald Barthelme ("I Bought a Little City"), while poor Louis L’Amour and Cormac McCarthy seemingly never wrote about Texas. Here is an elegiac chapter from McMurtry’s The Last Picture Show (though nothing from his masterpiece, Lonesome Dove), stuff from old hands J. Frank Dobie, John A. Lomax and Andy Adams, brilliant work from Katherine Anne Porter and from Lyndon Johnson biographer Robert Caro on washing and ironing in "The Hill Country" (praise Dos Passos). Dagobert Gilb amuses with "The Death Mask of Pancho Villa," and one should not miss basking in James Crumley’s "Whores." Other big names include Rick Bass, Kinky Friedman, Molly Ivins, Gary Cartwright, and O. Henry. For all libraries, including yours and ours. List Price: $$29.95 Our Price: $28.45

Wild Plants of the Pueblo Province: Exploring Ancient and Enduring Uses William W. Dunmire Our Price: $22.50

Texas Wildflowers: A Field Guide Campbell Loughmiller From the Publisher: From the Big Bend to the Big Thicket, from the Panhandle to the Rio Grande Valley, Texas is blessed with a dazzling array of wildflowers. Of the many species that adorn the state, Texas Wildflowers provides clear and concise descriptions for more than 300, complemented by 381 stunning full-color photographs. Not only the most prevalent species but also rare and unusual plants of startling beauty are illustrated and described.For more than three decades Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller have photographed the wildflowers of Texas, and their most exquisite photographs are reproduced here. The loveliest flowers from all regions of the state are represented, from the graceful calopogon orchid of the Big Thicket to the surprisingly delicate blooms of the Trans-Pecos cacti. Our Price: $14.95

Catching the Light F. Michael Labounty From the Publisher: When the bodies of nine illegal immigrants are found decomposing in a railroad boxcar in the heat of the South Texas brush country, photographers Jack Fraser and KD Davenport have no idea that the discovery will launch a tumultuous chain of events taking them on a wild and dangerous chase across Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.Set against a backdrop of drug trafficking, illegal aliens, and a corrupt sheriff’s department, Catching the Light follows the treachery, death, and betrayal that push the two photographers into a passionate romance. When they photograph a murderous sheriff and his psychopathic deputy killing a witness to their corruption, the story unfolds as Jack and KD race to elude them. The subsequent chase takes Jack and KD to San Antonio’s Riverwalk where they find love, then back to the bloody banks of the Rio Grande for a surprising conclusion. Our Price: $21.95