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God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State, by Lawrence Wright
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Review
Praise for God Save Texas"Superb . . . [Wright's] most personal work yet, an elegant mixture of autobiography and long-form journalism, remarkably free of elitist bias on the one hand, and pithy guidebook pronouncements on the other." —David Oshinsky, The New York Times Book Review (cover)“A love letter to a place . . . Wright writes about Texas with the fervor, knowledge, and ambivalence that comes from deep-seated familiarity.” —Willard Spiegelman, The Wall Street Journal“After tackling 9/11 and Scientology, journalist Lawrence Wright wrangles his toughest subject yet: home, the Lone Star State. With a balance of deep reporting and memoir, the New Yorker staff writer offers a personal history of Texas, a place both singular and the bellwether of American politics and morality. It’s a different approach, and one that Wright nails.” —GQ“Rings true on every page.” —Michael Barnes, austin360"Essential reading not just for Texans, but for anyone who wants to understand how one state changed the trajectory of the country . . . Wright is one of the most talented journalists Texas has ever produced, and God Save Texas is him at his best. It's a thoughtful, beautifully written book." —Michael Schaub, NPR“Compelling . . . timely . . . There is a sleeping giant in Texas, and Wright captures the frustration and the hope that reverberate across the state each time it stirs.” —Cecile Richards, The Washington Post “Terrific . . . all-encompassing . . . [fueled] with literary tension . . . Wright’s words could speak for both Texas and America.” —Chris Vognar, The Dallas Morning News“Gripping . . . Whether you love Texas or hate Texas, you will likely find God Save Texas a very funny and a very informative book about a place unlike any other on the face of the earth.” —Jonah Raskin, New York Journal of Books“The most entertaining and edifying nonfiction book I’ve read so far this year . . . There’s a jaw-dropping portrait on the shocking shenanigans of the Texas legislature; hymns to the natural beauty in the state’s far-flung nooks and crannies, and a spot-on analysis of Texas’s boom and bust economy. . . .[Wright] is a rare beast: an elegant writer and a fearless reporter, with a sense of humor as dry as the plains of west Texas.” —Mary Ann Gwinn, The Seattle Times“Thoroughly explore[s] the political past, present and future of the Lone Star State.” —Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone"There is a noticeable and refreshing lack of defensiveness in Wright's journey through Texas . . . Quirky anecdotes, philosophical musings on culture, and hyperlocal travel writing abound." —Elizabeth Catte, Boston Review“A godsend . . . Thorough and concise . . . A brilliant analysis.” —Marion Winik, Newsday“Vivid . . . Omnivorous . . . Affectionate and genial . . . Captures the full range of Texas in all its shame and glory . . . An illuminating primer for outsiders who may not live there but have a surfeit of opinions about those who do . . . [It’s] a testament to Wright’s formidable storytelling skills that a reader will encounter plenty of information without ever feeling lost.” —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times“If you listen to one audiobook this year, make it this one . . . Wright’s gentle Texas accent infuses his tale of the Lone Star State with humor and depth.” —Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed"Wright focueses his razor-sharp lens inward and on his home state, [interjecting] personal anecdotes to enliven the facts and figures." —Michelle Newby, Lone Star Literary Life“A campfire stew of memoir, reportage and historical digression. Wright is a typically Texas storyteller, an anecdotalist who wanders around and stops occasionally to point out the view, but somehow you end up getting where you’re going anyway. . . . Pleasing.” —Benjamin Markovits, The Guardian “A deeply personal narrative . . . Informative and entertaining . . . Having been born and raised in Texas, I found myself not only intrigued with revisiting the depth of history of my home state as told by Wright, but also with the insights God Save Texas afforded me on my current home here in West Virginia.” —Michael Amason, Herald-Dispatch"Splendid . . . A critical, affectionate account of modern Texas, matched only by Larry McMurtry's great essay Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen." —Allen Lane, The Spectator “Wright tames his sprawling subject matter with concise sentences and laser-precise word choice . . . Gives readers a front-row seat to the battle within the Texas GOP between business-oriented conservatives, led by House Speaker Joe Straus, and the social-conservative wing headed up by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.” —Chris Gray, Houston Chronicle“A fascinating look ahead through the lens of a singular state . . . Filled with larger-than-life Texas characters . . . For every Texas stereotype Wright explores, there’s something that blows it up.” —Colette Bancroft, The Tampa Bay Times “Exhilarating . . . Wright has outdone himself in his latest literary effort.” —Dr. Manuel Flores, Caller Times (Texana Reads)“The book’s 14 chapters dance between meditations on cities, culture, and politics, and all of them dive into what it means to be a Texan.” —Olivia Messer, The Daily Beast“Wright’s affectionate, eye-opening, and, at times, rueful love letter to his native state . . . This is Texas in all its fascinating outrageousness.” —Kevin O’Kelly, The Christian Science Monitor“Amid the state legislature’s fights over bathroom bills, feral hog abatement programs, and a bill allowing the hunting of wild pigs from hot air balloons, the reader comes away with an idea that the state is a place of competing melodies: a bit of Austin country, a few measures of Roy Orbison, a riff from Buddy Holley and, for Wright, maybe a stanza of ‘Home on the Range.’” —David M. Shribman, The Boston Globe“[A] compelling and insightful potpourri of history, encounters, and observations . . . Wright has managed to sew together a patchwork quilt of a narrative into a substantive State of the state.” —Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press“Wright, a lifelong Texan, knows his way around the state’s contradictions, from its wild borderlands to its craziest legislators. His Lone Star biography is important, timely, and most important, riveting.” —Boris Kachka, Vulture.com“An affecting memoir . . . Studded with . . . gems from the annals of Texas history.” —Steven G. Kellman, The Texas Observer“Takes readers on a trek through Texas from the dawn of the Republic to the 2016 election, and Texas space, from Houston to Marfa, Dallas to El Paso. Along the way, God Save Texas maps both the light and dark soul of the state . . . Organized by themes and geography, Wright drills deep into Texas politics, arts, culture, big cities, border, and energy. Wright’s often-humorous voice becomes a trusted guide when discovering Texas’s lost stories as well as confronting painful tragedies.” —Tarra Gaines, Arts and Culture Texas “The grand scale of Texas, and the sheer range of its places and people—Houston to El Paso, the Panhandle to the Valley—is inevitably compelling to any writer, and Wright is happy just trying to get his arms around it all.” —Michael King, Austin Chronicle“Masterful . . . An impressive ode to the Lone Star State . . . In a balanced tone, this narrative examines Texas’s historical, political, and social fabric that make the present tapestry, revealing a portrait of one of the most perplexing American states.” —Jacob Sherman, Library Journal (starred review)“This thoughtful, engrossing, and often-amusing survey is a kind of ‘waltz through Texas.’ . . . It is a state whose history, politics and culture Wright finds endearing, repelling, and puzzling, all dependent upon which aspect he is exploring and describing . . . An important book about a state and people who will continue to have a large impact on the U.S.” —Jay Freeman, Booklist (starred review) “An unflinching look at Texas—the state where Wright has spent most of his life—in all its grandeur and contradictions. . . . Wright’s large-scale portrait, which reveals how Texas is only growing in influence, is comprehensive, insightful, and compulsively entertaining.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“One of the state’s most renowned writers takes readers deep into the heart of Texas. As a staffer for The New Yorker and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Wright has illuminated a variety of intriguing subcultures. His native Texas is as exotic as any of them. He approaches his subject on a number of levels: as a stereotype, a movie myth, a cultural melting pot, a borderland, a harbinger of what is to come in an increasingly polarized and conservative country, and as a crucible that has shaped the character of a young writer who couldn't wait to escape but was drawn back . . . A revelation.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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About the Author
Lawrence Wright is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of nine previous books of nonfiction, including In the New World, The Looming Tower, Going Clear, Thirteen Days in September, and The Terror Years, and one novel, God’s Favorite. His books have received many prizes and honors, including a Pulitzer Prize for The Looming Tower (now a series on Hulu). He is also a playwright and screenwriter. He is a longtime resident of Austin, Texas.
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Product details
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (April 17, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525520104
ISBN-13: 978-0525520108
Product Dimensions:
5.9 x 1.2 x 8.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.1 out of 5 stars
172 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#14,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A friend from another country once asked me why Texans are so proud of their state.Other than my dad’s attempt to move us to Florida when I was four (we moved back to Texas in eight months), and my year of teaching in Oklahoma, I’ve lived in Texas my whole life. My roots are deep here--there are two streets in Fort Worth named after my great-grandfather, whose father farmed the banks of the Trinity River. I’ve lived in East Texas, South Texas, North Texas, West Texas and the panhandle. I’m thoroughly Texan. In college, I was on the rodeo team—the Tarleton Texans. I mix Spanish with English, wear boots without irony, and know the price of cotton and cattle. I even--I hate to admit--have an armadillo tattoo (the official small mammal of Texas), a remnant of my Tarleton Texan days. Still, the question above is a tough one.In his book, “God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State,†Lawrence Wright attempts to answer that question and others.I read this book with more interest than I have any other in a long while. That’s partly because the material is familiar to me—the author writes about places I’ve visited, lived, and loved. But it’s also because of the author’s style. He is a remarkable writer who can really spin a yarn (Texan for “tell a storyâ€) with vivid detail and subtle humor.One of Wright’s main subjects is the political culture of Texas, how it began, how it evolved, and why it matters, not just to Texas, but to the whole country. In short:“The political story in Texas both reflects and influences the national scene.â€Wright misrepresents nothing; Texas is exactly as he describes it. And he has the necessary background to get it right—he was born and raised in Texas and knows many of his subjects personally—George and Laura Bush among many others.In the early part of the book, Wright describes three levels of culture: level one—the most basic and authentic level. The early German settlers in the Texas hill country built their homes from limestone because limestone is what was available. Level two culture is the least authentic, when a place adopts a foreign culture to become more sophisticated. Northeastern high rises in Austin, Texas, for instance. And level three—an informed return to the original culture: “Returning to one’s roots with knowledge, self-confidence, and occasionally, forgiveness…Level Three requires shaking off the mythic illusions and telling new stories about who we really are.â€These levels of culture are also stages that we pass through in life; maybe the author hints at that. His discussion of Level Three reflects his own position in writing this book. He isn’t blindly patriotic about his native state, but he’s not ashamed of it, either. Rather, he sees it accurately—the good and the bad, appreciates it for what it is, and helps readers do the same.
Lawrence Wright is a noted writer of non-fiction - his book, "The Looming Tower" was a Pulitzer Prize winner - and one work of fiction. As an almost life-long resident of Texas, his latest book, "God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State", is a journey through the history of the state as well as a bit of a journey through his life. He and his family have lived decades in Texas - mostly in Austin - and he's lived though some of the most important events since 1950. His book is like a road trip through Texas with his interesting narrative along the way.Wright's written a rather idiosyncratic view of Texas. Less a history than assorted chapters about what has made Texas, Texas, Wright's book talks about history, politics, society, and that spirit that leaves much of the rest of the United States saying, "huh", when we hear about something outlandish that makes the news. Wright attempts to explain the vagaries of the Texas political structure, which has flipped almost completely from Democratic to Republican in the past 30 years. He also writes about the music scene and Texans timeless endearment of firearms. His book is also a love letter to the city of Austin and it's "Keep Austin Weird" vibe. But in all his writing, I couldn't detect much, if any nastiness about his subject. That's not saying Lawrence Wright is not critical about his beloved state, but what is said critically is said with a love the reader can't miss. Sort of like a parent writing about a much-loved, if slightly exasperating, child.It took me a while to read "God Save Texas". I began it on Tuesday when it was released and just finished it. It was a book that I savored. It was like the fact that I have liked every Texan I've ever met in the flesh, as opposed to who - and what - I see in the news. It's not difficult to dislike Texas and its people if you don't know any Texans or you haven't read a book like Lawrence Wright's.
The only "soul" plumbed is revealed via an egocentric exercise by the author that thankfully begins to bubble to the surface only in the book's later stages. However, that is preceded by 250 pages decrying Texas' failure--with the exception of Austin, of course--to have morphed into California. One can visualize the author on his knees praying that Texas’ electoral votes will soon join California and New York in erecting an eternal barrier to any but Progressive candidates for national office. Lulling one into a false sense of the author's purpose, however, are the first 60-70 pages that offer cute vignettes describing Texas' origins and its heroes, but reader beware of the pitfalls to come.In one particularly pitiful chapter, the author describes the terrors of Hurricane Harvey, which he blames on global warming, which was, of course, the Republicans’ fault, but into which he declares himself forced to drive to work on a play that wasn’t going to open—for reasons obvious to everyone but him (aren’t Pulitzer Prize winners supposed to be smarter than that?).One might continue reading, as I did, hoping against hope for some semblance of sanity, or at least some recognition of reality. One can perceive humor, but it’s invariably unintended. In the final analysis, the last page arrives as an immense relief.
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