Big wonderful thing : a history of Texas

Title:

Alternate title:

I couldn't believe Texas was real. ... the same big wonderful thing that oceans and the highest mountains are Cover title:

Author:

Harrigan, Stephen, 1948- author.

Series:

Texas bookshelf.

Summary:

The story of Texas is the story of struggle and triumph in a land of extremes. It is a story of drought and flood, invasion and war, boom and bust, and the myriad peoples who, over centuries of conflict, gave rise to a place that has helped shape the identity of the United States and the destiny of the world.

Edition:

First edition.

Contents:

Castaways -- Golden cities -- Woe to us -- The lady in blue -- Voyageurs -- God's work -- Filibusters -- God speed ye -- The Texas dream -- The consequence of failure -- Come and take it -- The Alamo is ours! -- Vengeance -- Aftermath -- Spartan spirit -- "Savage ware fare" -- The broken flagpole -- Los diablos tejanos -- The crisis of the crisis -- Robbers and lawyers -- Warriors and refugees -- I will never do it -- With throbbing hearts -- Reconstructed -- The end of Comancheria -- Fenced in -- Turn Texas loose -- Bipedal brutes -- Scorpions and horny toads -- A thousand little devils -- Gushers -- Light coming on the plains -- Sediciosos -- Pa -- War at home and abroad -- The blacksnake whip -- Music and mayhem -- The boy from the hill country -- Centennial -- Passionate ones -- Texans at war again -- The show of shows -- A new Texas -- Ye shall know the truth -- The lord takes a sleeping pill -- Giant -- A gamblin' man -- Welcome Mr. Kennedy -- El degüello reprise -- The voice of God -- The tower -- Vigil on the pedernales -- A side to belong to -- Don't be so self-righteous -- Baptism of fire -- Texans versus Texans -- Epilogue. Davy Crockett's fairy palace.

Physical Description:

925 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Geographic Term:

Texas -- History.

Publisher:

University of Texas Press,

Publication Date:

2019

ISBN:

9780292759510

Publication Information:

Austin, TX : University of Texas Press, 2019.

Call Number:

976.4 HARRIGAN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003379990	Adult Nonfiction	976.4 HARRIGAN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

2020 Philosophical Society of Texas Nonfiction Book Prize
2019 Nonfiction Book Award Finalist, Writers' League of Texas
2021 Citation from the San Antonio Conservation Society

"Harrigan, surveying thousands of years of history that lead to the banh mi restaurants of Houston and the juke joints of Austin, remembering the forgotten as well as the famous, delivers an exhilarating blend of the base and the ignoble, a very human story indeed. [ Big Wonderful Thing is] as good a state history as has ever been written and a must-read for Texas aficionados."-- Kirkus , Starred Review

"I couldn't believe Texas was real," the painter Georgia O'Keeffe remembered of her first encounter with the Lone Star State. It was, for her, "the same big wonderful thing that oceans and the highest mountains are."

Big Wonderful Thing invites us to walk in the footsteps of ancient as well as modern people along the path of Texas's evolution. Blending action and atmosphere with impeccable research, New York Times best-selling author Stephen Harrigan brings to life with novelistic immediacy the generations of driven men and women who shaped Texas, including Spanish explorers, American filibusters, Comanche warriors, wildcatters, Tejano activists, and spellbinding artists--all of them taking their part in the creation of a place that became not just a nation, not just a state, but an indelible idea.

Written in fast-paced prose, rich with personal observation and a passionate sense of place, Big Wonderful Thing calls to mind the literary spirit of Robert Hughes writing about Australia or Shelby Foote about the Civil War. Like those volumes, it is a big book about a big subject, a book that dares to tell the whole glorious, gruesome, epically sprawling story of Texas.

Author Notes

Stephen Harrigan
Austin, Texas

Harrigan has devoted much of his life to exploring and explaining Texas, ever since his family crossed the Red River from Oklahoma in 1953. He is the author of numerous works of nonfiction and fiction, including the critically acclaimed novels A Friend of Mr. Lincoln , Remember Ben Clayton , and the New York Times best seller The Gates of the Alamo . He is a longtime writer for Texas Monthly and an award-winning screenwriter who has written many movies for television.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Harrigan (The Gates of the Alamo) describes post-Columbian Texas in novelistic style in this eloquent homage to the Lone Star state. He follows many figures--among them the 19th-century Mexican general and politician Antonio López de Santa Anna, Comanche chief Quanah Parker, and "Mother of Texas" Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long--and makes smooth transitions between landmark events, such as the 16th-century Spanish expeditions and the Alamo. Lesser-known but powerful stories, including that of the devastating 1963 natural gas explosion at a New London school, pepper the colorful narrative. Despite the author's love of Texas, he's also frank about the horrific violence that figures throughout its history, including the experiences of Native Americans and enslaved people. Harrigan jauntily describes unexpected connections: he recounts learning later that his seemingly average childhood neighbors included WWII hero Joe Dawson and civil rights champion Dr. Hector Garcia. Texan politicians such as H. Ross Perot, Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, and the Bush presidents receive attention without political analysis; Harrigan recalls getting to know George and Laura Bush as fellow parents of young daughters. Scenes of dusty West Texas and the pine-laden eastern forests add a travelogue touch. History lovers will enjoy this packed, fascinating account of a singular state. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM Partners. (Oct.)

Library Journal Review

Best-selling novelist Harrigan (Gates of the Alamo) is well positioned to provide a new take on Texas history, presenting a narrative that not only covers the legends of popular lore, such as Davy Crockett and the siege of the Alamo, but also presents a more nuanced view of the traditional mythologies through the perspectives of people who have often been marginalized. Essentially, this is Texas history as seen and discovered by Harrigan through his experiences as a child and a scholar of the state, providing "behind the curtain" glimpses of his process of crafting the work. VERDICT Harrigan is a master storyteller and weaves a highly enjoyable tale of Texas that is sometimes tall but always big. A must-read for all Texans and those who are curious about more than the legend of the state.--Michael C. Miller, Austin P.L. & Austin History Ctr., TX