Austin-based advertising firm LatinWorks scored a major honor last week. The local company earned a bronze lion from the Cannes International Advertising Festival for its "Classroom" commercial featured during Super Bowl XLI. Why let Saatchi & Saatchi have all the fun? According to the synopsis provided by the folks at Cannes, the "spot showcases Carlos Mencia's comedic humor to demonstrate that the love for Bud Light crosses any cultural boundary." Lesson learned: never let your...... [continue]

Adorably swollen former U.S. Congressman and blogger Thomas Dale Delay received a bit of good news today. The Statesman is reporting that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Texas has decided to uphold a lower court's 2005 decision to dismiss felony charges against Delay and his politickin' and redistrictin' homies, Jim Ellis and John Colyandro. The 2005 dismissal held that the state's conspiracy statutes would cover election codes in September of 2003, well over...... [continue]

The Writers' League of Texas will be honoring author Lawrence Wright on September 21st with the 3rd Annual Award of Literary Merit. The award seeks to recognize individuals who "embody the League's mission of promoting literacy and elevating the art of writing." The first two Awards of Literary Merit were bestowed upon Sarah Bird (2006) and Anne Patchett (2005). Currently a staff writer for The New Yorker, Lawrence Wright has authored several books as well...... [continue]

Best-selling author John Burdett will be at BookPeople tomorrow night to present the third installment in his "Bangkok Series," Bangkok Nights. When detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep receives a snuff film featuring a woman he was once obsessed with, he embarks on an investigation that takes him beyond the realm of the living, not your same old snuff film shenanigans. It's like Law and Order, but in book form, set in Thailand, and instead of Sam Waterston...... [continue]

With the sweaty season officially in full swing here in Austin, Philadelphia-based First Person Arts has given us good reason to stick around in air-conditioned climes. Yesterday was the official call for entries in the 6th Annual First Person Arts Memoir Writing Competition. Now instead of trudging about in the soup you can spend time inside articulating your inner-most thoughts for a shot at some prestige in print-form. This year's contest features two categories: Short... [continue]

When it comes to U.S. Presidents, few people know more than Michael Beschloss, NBC News' official Presidential Historian. His best-selling books have covered all things executive and his latest, Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989, examines several moments within 200 years of American history when Presidents had to seriously represent, keeping it realer than real for the sake of the nation and the world. On Monday, June 11th, the LBJ Future...... [continue]

We're always trying to extol the value of having the Harry Ransom Center right here in town. They keep so many valuable treasures safe, yet make them readily available to the Austin community. Who else is going to keep your authentic Raging Bull boxing trunks so "just-off De Niro" fresh for an eternity? Well, it was only a matter of time before the HRC got mad props from New York's poshest periodical: The New Yorker....... [continue]

This Thursday, May 24th, Marisha Pessl will be at BookPeople to support the paperback release of her hefty debut tome Special Topics in Calamity Physics. We gave it a thorough reading about a year ago and you can read the review here. You like? Want to own this lovely novel that reads like a gripping murder mystery, is formatted like a class syllabus, and has a couple of pictures too? -What can't this book do?-... [continue]

This Thursday, May 17th at 7pm, Austin fixture Owen Egerton will be celebrating the release of How Best to Avoid Dying, his brand new collection of short stories, at BookPeople. The book is also the latest release for local publisher Dalton Publishing. They're offering a free peep of the book's first story, "Spelling," here. While the book itself is worthy of celebration, so too is its author. Egerton is one of Austin's renaissance men....... [continue]

Well, not really, but with the release of a commemorative book, two major acquisitions and the climax of the amazing American 20's exhibit, April was a huge month for the Ransom Center. On April 1st, to commemorate the first 50 years of its existence, the Ransom Center released Collecting the Imagination: The First 50 Years of the Ransom Center. Just a few weeks later, they secured roughly 100 boxes of written materials from playwright and...... [continue]

It's like "Two for Tuesday," but on Wednesday. And instead of classic rock gold, there are two books about a centuries-dead playwright. Still, it's fresher than Foghat. Tomorrow night Intellectual Property hosts UT English Professors Douglas Bruster and Eric Mallin as they present their works in the Shakespeare Now! series, a collection of books that take an unconventional approach to various aspects of the Bard and his works. To Be or Not To Be is... [continue]

For sometime now, fans of both humor and the internet have had reason to rejoice and celebrate every day. Through his daily posts on Girls Are Pretty, author, comedian, performer and non-professional dancer Bob Powers tips readers off to little known or unconventional holidays that would otherwise remain uncelebrated. For instance, did you know that this past Tuesday, April 10th, was "Your Thirteen Year Old Son Got His Dick Caught In One Of The Mousetraps...... [continue]

Bad news John Kerry fans: if you'd planned to spend today with the Massachusetts Senator and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, you're just going to have to wait. We've received word that his event scheduled to take place today -April 6th- at BookPeople has been canceled. The preliminary word is that the event has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 22nd -a.k.a. Earth Day- at a yet to be determined time. As originally planned, BookPeople... [continue]

The University of Texas Creative Writing Program has a reputation for scoring amazing, talented writers and poets as visiting professors. The good news for the average Austinite is that these "visitors" will usually give a public reading at some point during their semester-long stay. Tonight poet and UT visiting professor Jill Alexander Essbaum will be busting rhymes -for free!- in the Harry Ransom Center's Tom Lea Rooms. A former Austin resident currently sporting a Swiss...... [continue]

You might think that observational office-centric humor has been over done, what with Office Space and two versions of The Office, Anglo and American. And who -among the old skool set- can forget the venerable Nine to Five, the movie and both incarnations of the television show? Dabney Coleman is a genius! But have you ever experienced office satire...in book form!? Company is Max Barry's fictional foray into that obtuse world bred by capitalism, where...... [continue]

After vehemently encouraging Austinites to indulge in the splendor of live musical entertainment, Mayor Will Wynn's charisma is now focused on more literary pursuits. Wednesday, March 28th, at 7pm marks the official start of the annual Mayor's Book Club. For the sixth installment of the book club Mayor Wynn has chosen Stephanie Elizondo Griest's Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana. To get readers in the mood, the City of Austin is...... [continue]

It's about to get a touch more interesting at SXSW this weekend. Instead of simply wading through the throngs of festival goers on Red River this Saturday, you may now find yourself in the middle of a classic rivalry as well. On the afternoon of March 17th, 2007, here in the capital of Texas, Cowboys and Hippies will finally do battle...with water balloons. After the two parties gather forces at 1:55pm--we surmise high-noon was too...... [continue]

In her collection of short stories, Fresh Apples, Rachel Trezise brings the muse into her country, giving voice to the economically compromised Rhondda Valley in South Wales. Taking on a wide range of narrative perspectives, Fresh Apples offers a compelling look into the complex issues facing Welsh society. It really is a remarkable collection of short stories, so remarkable, in fact, that it garnered Trezise the first ever Dylan Thomas Prize. The award, which includes...... [continue]

The generous excitement and anticipation that met the release of 2001’s The Wash was well warranted. A cameo by Eminem as “the crazy, homicidal white guy” was just the glistening cherry on top of a large, delicious sundae of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s combined raw talent, served in a sparkling, crystal bowl of DJ Pooh's writing and directing skills. It seemed an infallible recipe for success. In the end, the quality of the film's...... [continue]

This week the University of Texas hosts author Rachel Trezise, the first ever recipient of the Dylan Thomas Prize. The prize features a $120,000 purse and is awarded biennially to authors under the age of 30 with works published in English. At 28, Trezise has already authored two books, a novel, In and Out of the Goldfish Bowl, and a collection of short stories, Fresh Apples. Both works take on the complex social issues facing...... [continue]