Texas Bound II

About the stories: Here is a new selection of stories from the sellout "Texas Bound" segment of the "Arts and Letters Live" literary series at the Dallas Museum of Art. Among the eight stories—which range from poignant to uproarious —are Matt Clark's surprise-packed fantasy, "The West Texas Sprouting of Loman Happenstance," read by Brent Spiner (aka Lt. Cmdr. Data of Star Trek); Miles Wilson's classic tale of a has-been poet on the downward track, "On Tour with Max," read by John Benjamin Hickey; Mary Flatten's bittersweet other-woman story, "Old Enough," read by Julie White (Nadine in television's Grace Under Fire); and Janet Peery's haunting domestic tragedy, "What the Thunder Said," read by Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates.

Quote from the West Texas Sprouting of Loman Happenstance: “The skies over the low mountains around him, egg-carton blue purpling up into squid-inky blackness, were nonplussed to witness the steamy demise of a once-regal highway yacht.”

Why this book you may ask: Hey, it's written by Texas authors and read by Texas actors. It had to be good, didn't it?

My Thoughts: I don't read a lot of short stories and I'm not sure why. Maybe because I want to know more. But here I am with two books of short stories going, this one and the Sookie Stackhouse book of short stories.

I liked this selection of stories, they covered a wide range of genres. My very favorite was The West Texas Sprouting of Loman Happenstance. It was indeed a fantasy, uniquely written and funny. I enjoyed listening to Brent Spiner reading it. Coming in second was another funny, but darker story that took place in east Texas, my stomping ground. It is Something Went with Daddy. The voice of the reader just made this story. I've heard people with the same deep east Texas accent he uses here. The saddest was Kris/Crack/Kyle by Hermine Pinson in which a man/son/brother comes back from the war and unable to cope falls into a life of drugs and homelessness. The family tries to help him but to no avail.

Links:
Texas Monthly Magazine

Audio Cassette
Publisher: Southern Methodist University Press (February 1, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0870743945
ISBN-13: 978-0870743948

short stories, Texas, Texana, Dallas Museum of Art