{"id":951,"date":"2018-12-31T14:52:34","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T14:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=951"},"modified":"2018-12-31T14:52:34","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T14:52:34","slug":"lone-star-book-reviewsby-michelle-newby-nbcccontributing-editor-98","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=951","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star Book ReviewsBy Michelle Newby, NBCCContributing Editor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span><\/span>Michelle Newby<\/span> is a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews<\/span> and Foreword Reviews, <\/span>writer, blogger at TexasBookLover.com, member of the Permian Basin Writers’ Workshop advisory committee, and a moderator for the Texas Book Festival. Her reviews appear in Pleiades Magazine, Rain Taxi, Concho River Review, Mosaic Literary Magazine, Atticus Review, The Rumpus, PANK Magazine,<\/span> and The Collagist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lone Star Book Reviews
of Texas books appear weekly
at LoneStarLiterary.com<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n
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David Courtney<\/span> joined Texas Monthly<\/span> in 2005 and has written \u201cThe Texanist\u201d since 2007. He has also contributed to features such as the annual Bum Steer Awards, the quinquennial review of the fifty best barbecue joints in Texas, \u201cThe Great Terquasquicentennial Road Trip,\u201d \u201cThe 50 Greatest Hamburgers in Texas,\u201d and \u201cThe 40 Best Small-Town Cafes,\u201d as well as \u201cSnap Judgment\u201d (a compilation of the ten greatest plays in Texas college football history) and \u201cThe Texanist\u2019s Parenting Quiz,\u201d among others. He lives in Austin.<\/p>\n

Jack Unruh<\/span> (1935\u20132016) was an award-winning illustrator whose art was featured in numerous publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, Time, Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, New York Magazine, National Geographic, Sports Afield, Field and Stream,<\/span> and His work was included in Communication Arts Illustration Annual<\/span> since its inception and also appeared in numerous issues of American Illustration, Graphis, AIGA,<\/span> and Print.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/a><\/span>ESSAYS\/HUMOR<\/p>\n

David Courtney, illustrated by Jack Unruh<\/span><\/p>\n

The Texanist: Fine Advice on Living in Texas<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

University of Texas Press<\/p>\n

Hardcover, 978-1-4773-1297-8, (also available as an e-book), 120 pgs., $24.95<\/p>\n

April 25, 2017<\/p>\n

WWTTD\u2014What would the Texanist do?<\/p>\n

The brief essays collected in<\/span> The Texanist: Fine Advice on Living in Texas<\/span><\/a><\/span> were written by David Courtney<\/span> beginning in 2007 when \u201cThe Texanist\u201d debuted as a column in Texas Monthly<\/span>. The late Jack Unruh<\/span> produced inspired, whimsical illustrations for each column until his death in 2016. Employing humor sometimes subtle, sometimes laugh-out-loud, Courtney\u2019s advice column attempts to answer questions submitted from those unsure of proper Texas etiquette.<\/p>\n

Courtney has impeccable credentials for the position: \u201cTexas-born to Texas-born parents, Texas-raised, Texas-schooled, and Texas-traveled, with a fluency in the language of Texas, the culture of Texas, and the overall Texanness of both Texas and Texans.\u201d He is therefore qualified to answer such questions as:<\/p>\n

Q. Isn\u2019t it rude for farmers driving tractors to hog the road and delay traffic?<\/p>\n

A. No, although \u201cIt is not unusual to experience a miles-long, teeth-grinding, fist-shaking tantrum when stuck behind one of these salts of the earth, perched up on his tractor like a pasha on an elephant, but it is not an admirable response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q. Is it legal to eat roadkill?<\/p>\n

A. No, \u201cimagine for a moment what might happen if [it were]: Plenty of ol\u2019 boys would seize the chance to turn their F-150s into weapons. The thought of them out cruising the highways for dinner, swerving this way and that, plowing through fences and over bar ditches in frenzied pursuit of their prey is terrifying to contemplate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q. Is it against the law to pick bluebonnets?<\/p>\n

A. No, but \u201cWhile not officially outlawed, the act of pulling up a bluebonnet remains a Texas taboo of the highest order, worse than even vegetarianism or rooting for the Redskins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Letters come from Arlington to Corpus Christi, from Pasadena to Amarillo. Some of the petitioners\u2019 names are withheld due to the sensitive nature of the topic, such as the young woman whose new boyfriend didn\u2019t like Willie. \u201cNobody is here to tell anybody that somebody has to appreciate a particular musical artist as a prerequisite to being anybody\u2019s boyfriend,\u201d The Texanist begins, \u201cbut by shunning Willie\u2019s transcendent tunesmithing, ever-pleasant warble, and overall munificence, this fellow has really shown himself to be, at the very least, a birdbrain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtney refers to himself in the third person when pontificating (lawns are \u201cthe shorn seas of verdancy that surround your abode\u201d), waxing philosophical (\u201cblood is thicker than even discontinued Dublin Dr Pepper\u201d), or quoting from statutes (Texas water law involving something called a \u201cfreshet\u201d). He is not below an elegant turn of phrase or above whatever this is: \u201cThe Texanist cooks his chili in the very same pot from which the meaty stew of his youth was long ago ladled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unruh\u2019s illustrations are pure genius in both their fine detail and general ambience. Courtney is portrayed as a swarthy fellow, often with bloodshot eyes and in need of a shave, who appears to be cheerfully hung over, whether in a tux, a toga, or an evening gown. The Texanist is always accompanied by Li\u2019l Bubba, a curious creature who resembles a miniature Aztec bird of prey with the nose of Cyrano de Bergerac, wearing a jester\u2019s hat and leopard-print leggings.<\/p>\n

In short, The Texanist<\/span> is great fun, full of playfully illustrated bons mots, fun facts, digressions, \u201cgrammatical murder,\u201d and a regrettable pun or two. It would make a lovely Father\u2019s Day or welcome-to-Texas gift.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Newby is a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews and Foreword Reviews, writer, blogger at TexasBookLover.com, member of the Permian Basin Writers’ Workshop advisory committee, and a moderator for the Texas Book Festival. Her reviews appear in Pleiades Magazine, Rain Taxi, Concho River Review, Mosaic Literary Magazine, Atticus Review, The Rumpus, PANK Magazine, and The Collagist. […]<\/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-951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951","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=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}