{"product_id":"literary-austin-9780875653426","title":"Literary Austin","description":"Don Graham brings together the history, color, and character of Texas's capital city since 1839 when it was selected, on the advice of Mirabeau B. Lamar, as the site for a new capital of the then-Republic of Texas. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEssays, fiction, and poetry reveal the variety of literary responses to Austin through the decades and are organized in a roughly chronological fashion to reveal the themes, places, and personalities that have defined the life of the city. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAustin was always about three things--natural beauty, government, and education--and thus many of the pieces in this volume dwell upon one and sometimes all of these themes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBesides O. Henry, the other most important figures in the city's history were J. Frank Dobie, Roy Bedichek, and Walter P. Webb: folklorist, naturalist, historian. During their heyday, from the 1930s through the early 1960s, they were the face of literary culture in the city. They remain a source of interest, pride, and sometimes controversy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAustin is a well-known haven of liberal political activism, represented by such well-known figures as Lyndon B. Johnson, Ralph Yarborough, Ann and David Richards, Liz Carpenter, Willie Morris, John Henry Faulk, and Molly Ivins. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe city is also a haven for literary writers, many of whom appear in these pages: Carolyn Osborn, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, Dagoberto Gilb, Stephen Harrigan, and Lawrence Wright, to name a few. Among the poets, Thomas Whitbread, Dave Oliphant, David Wevill, and Christopher Middleton have long been on the scene. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCertain sites recur--the University Tower, Barton Springs, various watering holes of another kind--so that for anybody who has ever spent time in Austin will experience twinges of nostalgia for vanished icons, closed-down venues, long-gone sites of pleasure brought to life once again, in these pages.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Texas Christian University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/06\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780875653426\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 448\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 10.38h x 7.15w x 1.52d","brand":"Don Graham","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44174025195701,"sku":"9780875653426","price":25.08,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_404bf34f-c505-4eaf-b106-f95832f1d30a.jpg?v=1716300045","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/literary-austin-9780875653426","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}