{"id":572,"date":"2018-12-31T12:54:05","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T12:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=572"},"modified":"2018-12-31T12:54:05","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T12:54:05","slug":"texas-reads-archiveglenn-dromgoole-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=572","title":{"rendered":"Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

6.26.16\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two books focus on Texas lore, culture<\/h1>\n

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<\/a><\/span>Two new attractive hardback books<\/span> make it their mission to try to explain \u2014 in an entertaining way \u2014 what it means to be a Texan.<\/p>\n

How to Be a Texan: The Manual<\/span><\/a><\/span> by Andrea Valdez<\/span> (University of Texas Press, $21.95) is the more serious and comprehensive of the two, but it is quite engaging as well.\u00a0 Valdez wrote \u201cThe Manual\u201d column for Texas Monthly magazine for several years before becoming editor of the magazine\u2019s web site, so she is certainly well-versed in Texas lore and culture.\u00a0 She divides the book into eight sections, with several sub-topics in each chapter. The chapters are Talk Like a Texan, Look Like a Texan, Rites of Passage, Tend the Ranch, Hunting and Fishing, Cook Like a Texan, Relax Like a Texan, and Tour Like a Texan.<\/p>\n

Much of the book is written in a how-to style, such as how to buy custom cowboy boots, how to shoot a .22, how to shoe a horse, how to field dress a deer, how to cook King Ranch chicken or Frito pie, how to play 42, how to dance the two-step.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/span>Y\u2019all Need This Book: The Definitive Guide to Being a Texan<\/span><\/a><\/span> by Jay B. Sauceda<\/span> (Gibbs Smith, $19.95) covers a lot of the same ground but in a more graphic \u2014 or heavily illustrated \u2014 style.<\/p>\n

Sauceda divides his book into seven sections \u2013 Teachin\u2019 Texan, Texan Traits, Talkin\u2019 Texan, Dressin\u2019 Texan, Texan Traditions, Eatin\u2019 Texan and Drivin\u2019 Texan. But he takes a more light-hearted approach, relying a lot more on pictures and illustrations to get his messages across.<\/p>\n

One rather peculiar entry is the \u201cTexas Road Trip Simulator,\u201d fourteen black and white pages showing an empty highway. Readers are invited to slowly turn the pages and imagine that they are driving from San Antonio to El Paso \u2014 and then repeat the process an additional 828 times to get the full experience of making the trip.<\/p>\n

Another entry is a graphic \u201cguide to understanding y\u2019all.\u201d It shows a picture of one man \u2014 that\u2019s \u201cyou\u201d \u2014 then two men (\u201cy\u2019all), then four men (\u201call y\u2019all\u201d).<\/p>\n

Two books, two different styles, both with the same focus: helping readers understand and celebrate what is special about being a Texan.<\/p>\n

So which would I recommend? Probably the more authoritative Valdez book if you like to read. If you\u2019d rather flip through a book and look at the pictures and scan the limited text, the Sauceda volume might be more to your liking (or likin\u2019, as we say in Texas).<\/p>\n

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Glenn Dromgoole\u2019s<\/span> latest book is More Civility, Please. <\/span>Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.<\/p>\n

>> <\/span>Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole 6.26.16\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two books focus on Texas lore, culture Two new attractive hardback books make it their mission to try to explain \u2014 in an entertaining way \u2014 what it means to be a Texan. How to Be a Texan: The Manual by Andrea Valdez (University of Texas Press, $21.95) is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}