The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985 Page: 345
476 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
morial Museum, and the Huntington Art Gallery have cooperated in
other projects of researching and publishing material on art and artists
in Texas. It is true that Texas, as a frontier state, attracted few trained
artists during the nineteenth century. Through such cooperative ef-
forts as this book, however, the work of those few artists has been ably
and handsomely documented.
The Amon Carter Museum RON TYLER
Fort Worth
Growing Old at Willie Nelson's Picnic and Other Sketches of Life in
the Southwest. Edited by Ronald B. Querry. (College Station,
Tex.: Texas A8cM University Press, 1983. Pp. 277. Acknowledg-
ments, introduction, photographs. $18.50, cloth; $10.95, paper.)
Any reader will find in this diverse collection a number of pieces
that will prove of interest. The twenty selections are divided into
seven categories: Legacies, Borderlines (referring specifically to the
border with Mexico), Livestock, Ceremonies, Diversions, Art, and
Tales.
The list of authors gives some further indication of content. Alpha-
betically, it includes Clancy Carlile, Gary Cartwright, John Davidson,
William Eastlake, Earle R. Forrest, Arrell Morgan Gibson, John
Graves, Larry L. King, D. H. Lawrence, William C. Martin, Joseph G.
McCoy, Larry McMurtry, Tom Miller, N. Scott Momaday, Kirk Pur-
cell, Al Reinert, Trent Elwood Sanford, Leslie Marmon Silko, Frank
Waters, and Lawrence Wharton. Finally, a sentence in the dust jacket
seeks to wrap up description of the content: "The common thread of
all the sketches is the land and its unique blend of three cultures-In-
dian, Spanish, and Anglo .. ."
Unfortunately, the book inevitably suffers from the dangers in-
herent in a production of this type. Life in the expansive Southwest
covers a broad range indeed, and this collection focuses on relatively
few scenes: Texas football, a bit overdone by now; rodeos; architecture
and artistic expression in Taos; Willie Nelson's picnic, including some
incisive and humorous observations of those in attendance (in the title
piece, by William C. Martin); and a scattering of others.
There is nothing focusing on oil, or southwestern weather, or many
other subjects of great regional importance. No one with a name of
Spanish derivation writes on Spanish culture. An attempt at compre-
hensiveness surely would have resulted in a large-maybe multi-
volume-production, but the book reviewed here needs emphasis on345
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985, periodical, 1984/1985; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101210/m1/393/?rotate=180: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.