Results tagged “texasbookfestival”

Last Sunday during the Texas Book Festival, I sat down for lunch with Jonathan Foer, author of Eating Animals. I wanted to talk about his new book and at the same time introduce him to one of Austin’s treasures: the vegetarian food at Casa de Luz. As we walked into the less-than-full restaurant, he said, "Nice. Wow, if this were Brooklyn, the place would be packed. What's going on?" "New York City prices," I replied. Your book will be released next week. Have you had any reaction so far?

OH SNAP! So, Austin is considered the Live Music Capital of the world? Well that’s not all that’s crackin’ up and spacklin' in and amongst our cultured ranks. Some of us can read, and certainly do. Which is why Austin is blessed to host the Texas Book Festival again for 2009. Music’s nice and all for listenin’ and whatnot, but BOOKS and WRITERS will be on the main stage this weekend at the Texas Book Festival!

exas is playing on the road, the weather should be great, so your excuses are scant. Two hundred and twenty authors and box loads of new books will be arriving. And, according to Clay Smith, this is an excellent year to be a reader. Be sure and check the Texas Book Festival schedule for any last minutes changes. Author Terry Tempest Williams, unfortunately, could not attend. An earlier interview with Clay Smith, the literary director, can be found here.

In Cheever, A Life, Blake Bailey combines a biography with some literary criticism. Weighing in at 679 pages, it is an even-handed and meticulously researched picture of this fiction writer best known for short stories. Bailey’s authority comes from his knowledge of John Cheever’s writing and access to his unpublished journals. Although it pains me to say this, in general writers make boring nonfiction characters.They are of deep interest only to biographers and close family. In this case, however, the troubled man-boy who never finished high school made both a mess and magic out of his personal life, creating enough controversy to carry a story.

The Texas Book Festival released this year's author list at a Dallas reception held in Laura Bush's home last night. Some of the authors include: Buzz Aldrin, Luis Urrea (an entertainment machine), Terry Tempest Williams (Finding Beauty in a Broken World; you can find an earlier Austinist review here), Kinky Friedman, Blake Bailey (Cheever, A Life), Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Lethem (a must see), Willard Spiegelman, Jeanette Walls and many Austin authors including Laurence Parent, Belinda Acosta, and Lance Letscher. They are all good. If we overlooked your favorite author, the complete list, and eventually the schedule, can be found here (click on the author's name to reveal the book).

To echo Anita Bryant (wow, never thought I'd say that), these books aren't just for young people anymore! These are excellent stories. Period. You don't need to be of a certain age to appreciate them. Right now there is a sort of Renaissance of teen and children's literature going on, and it's so exciting to be a part of that. I hope many others come and experience it this weekend.

Sarah Bird: Like all sad little people who are compelled to amuse, to “be funny,” Phil was a hollow shell wrapped around a thin layer of repressed aggression, shot through with insecurity and competitiveness, all covered in a candy coating laced with strychnine. So, essentially, for me, this would be an autobiography.

Duran: It's important to remember that the Television is part of the American culture. Therefore it's only natural that food has become a theme to be covered through this medium. As long as these chefs are inspiring viewers to start cooking in their own kitchens, I see no issues with what they are doing.

A look at the music and musicians that make up an important part of the Texas Book Festival. Photos by Steve Hopson. If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump....

Image from SpyYard Texas Book FestivalSaturday November 3 - Sunday, November 4Downtown Austin [map]Free[info]We didn't think ten tips for the Texas Book Festival were enough, so here are ten more to help complicate things and confuse you you navigate the throngs of bibliophiles stalking the Austin streets this weekend. Keep in mind that seating and space is limited at most of these events. Arrive early and often! Saturday 10:00 - 10:45 Kristin Gore (Senate Chamber)...

This weekend, while many of our friends are shaking their fists across town at the Fun Fun Fun Fest, the bookworms among us will climb the Capitol steps to get our “shhh!” on at the Texas Book Festival. We’ve waited all year for this, the biggest literary event in Austin. All the great local writers will be on hand, along with a smattering of nationally recognized authors. For anyone looking for a thorough introduction to...

We have a big crush on Tom Perrotta. We lurve the tales he crafts about ordinary people who end up in extraordinary predicaments because they just can't seem to bring themselves to say what they are thinking, even when knowing that it would save them a boat load of grief. We identify with being well-intentioned but sometimes ill-advised and from time to time believe that our own inner monologue is actually the narration for...

Usually, street closures around the Capitol hail the arrival of one of Austin's many street festivals, where you can listen to a wishy-washy blues-rocker do his best to channel Stevie Ray Vaughn while you eat a turkey leg amongst a sea of fanny-packed families and homemade jewelry vendors. But once a year it means it's Texas Book Festival time. As literary events go in this town, it is the big one. For two days...

Highlights for this week: The Royal Family bids adieu to the east side with a giant Halloween bash, featuring DJ sets by Stay Gold, a costume contest, and a whopping 75% off the entire store inventory The Blanton Museum of Art opens up afterhours on Friday for its monthly B scene, with art from the American West and music by the Unfortunate Heads and DJ Spooky Texas Fun Fun Fun Fest takes over Waterloo Park...

Trustees at the Westbank Community Library recently announced that their new branch, scheduled for opening sometime next year, will be named in honor of first lady Laura Bush.

Looking for some extracurricular, non-Barack Obama-related Texas Book Festival fun? The Gallery at the Continental Club will be hosting The Lolita Update: The Romantic Devastations of Youth in Fiction on Saturday night at 8:00pm. Mark Binelli, Rolling Stone contributing editor and author of Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die!, will be opening with a vaudevillian skit involving anarchists and knives. The evening’s centerpiece is a panel discussion concerning young love, adolescence, and fiery loins. The panel...

As festivals go, the Texas Book Festival is probably one of the most consistent we have in Austin. For the past couple of years, Clay Smith–the festival’s literary director–has sought out and scored some of the most notable figures on the nation’s book scene. This year is no exception as the festival is sporting some very prominent names. The festival “kicks-off” on Thursday night (7pm) at the Harry Ransom Center where Alan Furst will be...

What a possible travesty! Might the Texas Commission on the Arts -- provider of grants, information, and technical assistance to artists and arts organizations in visual arts, theatre, dance, music, media and literature -- be destroyed? The organization, which has been the primary source of governmental funding of the arts in Texas for over forty years, was under the Sunset review this year, a process all state agencies undergo every 12 years to determine whether they should continue to exist or not.