I
Book review
By LOUIS HILGARTNER
Stiff Columnist
If another book concerning
the eternal topic of "How To Be
A Real Texan" is never pub
lished, don't worry. One of the
best is already on the shelves.
A Genuine Texas Handbook
has been "rounded up" by
Rosemary Kent, and it's really
top-notch.
Every possible scrap of use
ful, or useless, information the
Tex-buff could possibly want to
suck up is crammed neatly into
224 pages.
Opening with a chapter ded
icated to "The Texas State of
Mind," this book (in true Texas
style) assures the reader from
the start that too much is never
enough. It also introduces such
colorful characters as Judge Roy
Bean, Bonnie and Gyde and T.
Cullen Davis.
One feature that sets this
book apart from the rest of the
multitude of "Texas books" is
the inclusion of a vast amount
of trivia that supplements each
chapter without bogging things
down.
Case in point: the first report
filed by a Texas Ranger: "Date
— August 10,1876; Name of of
fender — Bill Jones; Offense —
Stealing cattle; Disposition —
Mean as hell; Comments —
Had to kill him."
There are diagrams of how to
■ess like a millionare, rough
neck, honky tonk angel, foot
ball stud, county sheriff and ev
ery other possible personality
living in the Lone Star state.
This book isn't limited to just
'how to dress up."
There are:
★ Historical notes — 1885, Dr
Pepper invented by a Waco
druggist.
★ Snort biographies of famous
Texans — Edward H. White II,
the first American to walk in
space. He got such a kick out of
floating around, he didn't want
to get oack into the spacecraft
when they told him to.
★ And, tips on where to shop
— from Hi-Yo Silver Western
Wear in El Paso to Cutter Bill's
Western World in Dallas, the
Handbook lets you know where
to spend your bucks to get the
maximum "Texas" look.
Also included is a somewhat
unique, and completely un
abridged, glossary of Texan
terms. If you've ever wondered
what a "peesplasher" is, or
what it takes for an animal to be
"smushed," or what it means to
be "an East River wetback," it's
all right here.
It's amazing how thorough
the Handbook is. Kent has left
no part of Texas unscathed.
Cattle brands, family feuds,
places to go, places not to go,
places that aren't around any
more (and even if they were
you would want to stay away),
cattle barons, ranches, the Dal
las Cowboys, Earl Campbell,
Red Adair (and his phone num
ber), how to decorate your
ranch house, beer bellies, what
to do at a honky tonk, how to
pronounce certain words, the
true meaning of "y'all," what to
eat and where to eat it ... EV
ERYTHING — is included.
The clincher is, once you start
reading you can't stop.
But mat's o.k.
In Texas, even time is big.
Big—its a state of nriid.
BOUNDED UPBY ROSEMARY KeIt
cmi uos^in
Texas has writers too
By BONNIE LANGFORD
Staff Writer
"The world outside never
heard of Bedichek, hasn't read
Webb, and isn't particularly in
terested in Dobie. The world in
side doesn't read much and
doesn't read well..."
Those words were written by
Texas author Larry McMurtry
in his book. In a Narrow Grave.
The "world" he is describing is
Texas; the names mentioned
are those of other Texas authors
Roy Bedichek, Walter Prescott
Webb and J. Frank Dobie.
McMurty's words tell the sad
truth about many readers in
Texas. Interesting books by
Texans, or about Texas, are be
ing overlooked by people who
would rather read books about
more cultured places, or by
writers from more civilized
places.
Who is this McMurtry guy?
Why is he telling me what's
worth reading,? you may ask.
While his name may not be fa
miliar to many Texans, his
works are. His more well-
known books include The Last
Picture Show, which he also
wrote the screenplay for in
1972, and Terms of Endear
ment, which recently was re
leased as a movie.
OK, now you've probably
added this trivia to your collec
tion of things to brag about in
the great state of Texas, but
you're probably still not inter
ested in reading about it.
Wasn't that the stuff they
taught in boring Texas history
class,? you may ask.
Being a Texan doesn't auto
matically give you all the
knowledge about this state.
One of the best books I ever
read was discovered while tak
ing a college Texas history
Ballet to
By REBECA ZIMMER
MAN N
Staff Writer
The Houston Ballet will pi
rouette into College Station
March 20 and 21 with back-to-
back performances of a "Mixed
Repertoire" and "The Sleeping
Beauty."
sored by the MSC Opera ;
Performing Arts Society, ’
begin both nights at 8 p.m
Rudder Auditorium.
The "Mixed Repertoire,"
be presented March 20, i
consist of four pieces: "L,""
ree Preludes," "Esmerelda
de Deux" and "Symphony
D."
"L," choreographed by Hous
ton Ballet artistic director Ben
Stevenson, was first presented
as a tribute to Liza Minelli for
her 1974 performance benefit-
ting the National Ballet of
Washington. The dance, set to a
percussion score by Don Law-
son, features Kenneth McCom-
bie as Boogaloo and Li Cunxin,
a Chinese dancer who has been
with the Houston Ballet since
course. I approached it like the
typical college text — with the
"I'll just read it fast the night be
fore the test and get it over
with" attitude.
But the book. Lone Star. A
History of Texas and the Tex
ans, by T.R. Fehrenbach,
wasn't like any other college
book I had read. The back cover
had comments from critics, and
not just history critics, the re
views included writers from
newspapers and magazines.
That was a good sign, I
thought, someone beside my
history professor has read the
book.
The clincher came with the
reviews. The critics were raving
about the book; I thought they
had to be raving mad. History is
supposed to be boring, I
thought, and decided that ei
ther these people were personal
friends of the author or they
didn't exist.
I soon learned these review
ers were right about the book,
which was written by none
other than a Texan.
He made the story about the
history of Texas exciting, and
made learning about things I
didn't know mn. Other books
by Fehrenbach include This
Kind of War and Fire and
Blood, which are also good
reading.
The fight for Texas writers,
and those interested in their
writings, has been long and
hard.
In 1929, J. Frank Dobie, who
was teaching at the University
of Texas, launched his proposal
for a course on the literature of
the Southwest. The budget
council firmly vetoed his idea,
on the grounds that there was
no such animal.
Dobie was not to be beaten,
perform
his refusal to return to his
homeland in 1981, as Cuban
Jazz.
The second dance, "Three
Preludes," is an award-winner
for two reasons. Stevenson won
a gold medal for choreography
in the 1972 International Ballet
Competition for this dance,
which is set to music by Sergei
Rachmaninoff. And Rachel Jo-
nell Beard, who will dance the
lead role, was a bronze medalist
in the 1982 International Ballet
Competition. Beard's partner in
the dance is Dennis Poole.
College Station will again see
two award-winning dancers,
Janie Parker and William Piz-
zuto, perform together in the
"Esmerelda Pas de Deux." Par
ker, who won a gold medal at
the 1982 international competi
tion, and Pizzuto, who won a
silver medal, danced the lead
roles in "Cinderella" here in the
Fall of 1982. Choreography for
the pas de deux is by Stevenson
and music is by Cesare Pugni.
The final dance in the March
20 performance is "Symphony
in D," choreographed by Jiri
Kylian. The dance, set to Joseph
and resubmitted his course as
"Life and Literature of the
Southwest." He got his course,
because the council had to ad
mit that there is life in the
Southwest.
J. Frank Dobie wrote The Ben
Lilly Legend, Cow People, A
Texan in England and Out of
the Old Rock, as well as many
other books about Texas.
Walter Prescott Webb wrote
many books about the Texas
Rangers, including The Texas
Rangers; A Century of Frontier
Defense and The Story of the
Texas Rangers.
Roy Bedichek, historian,
wrote Adventures with a Texas
Naturalist and Karankawa
Country.
Good impressions about the
state also can come from the
Texas writers who aren't con
sidered the classic writers, like
Shelby Hearon, who conjures
images of everything from the
smell of mountain laurels to the
sound of a mockingbird in his
books. One of his books is
named Armadillo in the Grass;
with a title like that, it has to be
Texan.
For those who insist that a
good Texas writer should con
centrate on life in the west,
there is Elmer Kelton. His writ
ings convey the idea that he
knows the cowboy life, because
he can write about it.
The Time It Never Rained, is
one of his novels that captures
the West Texas experience; yes,
there is life in a dustbowl. An
other good book of his with a
comic side to it is The Good Old
Boys.
So rejoice, Texans, and read
something by a Texas author.
Don't let McMurtry's words
about Texas readers stay true.
Join in the fun of Texas Book
Month.
here
Haydn's Clock Symphony, is a
humorous piece filled with
dancing jokes. The first part for
eight couples is roguish and
lighthearted. The second part
leads to a grand finale hunting
scene.
The second performance, on
March 21, is Stevenson's newly
produced version of "The
Sleeping Beauty." This full-
length ballet, which contains a
prologue and three acts, is a
classic in dance as well as in
fairy tales. It is set to music by
the great Russian composer
Peter Tchaikovsky and was cho
reographed by the 19th century
leader of Russian ballet, Marius
Petipa. The Houston Ballet
opened its 1983-84 season with
this ballet.
Suzanne Longley will dance
the role of Princess Aurora and
Pizzuto will dance the role of
Prince Florimund. Two other
feature roles, the Bluebird and
Princess Florise, will be danced
by John Grensback and Kerri
McClatchi, who is from Mid
land.