“We would rather die in these ditches than surrender ourselves to a post-literate society.”
— William Barrett Travis, The Alamo, 1836
*
OK, so that’s not exactly what Travis said, but he would have if he wrote for Texas Monthly. That’s my legend, and I’m sticking to it.
As the editor in chief of a small community weekly newspaper, I get heartily sick of people proclaiming the death of reading. I mean, they may be right — probably are — but I hate the defeatism that comes along with the commentary. I will not go quietly into a post-literate society, nor accept AI displacing and replacing human-made art and music. No, I will flip the post-literate robot society the double-bird, unlimber my Westinghouse M-25 40-watt Phased Plasma Pulse-Gun and open up like Davy Crockett on Claude and Gemini and Alice and all those AI fuckers who are infiltrating my Alamo.
We will never surrender or retreat…
Texas Monthly just threw a bolt of lightning out in the dark storm clouds swirling around the obituary for the written word.
Texas Monthly and Penguin Random House have joined forces to relaunch Texas Monthly Press as the book-publishing imprint of the celebrated, award-winning media company that has defined Texas for millions of readers for 53 years. The new venture will publish books across genres and formats that capture the spirit and stories of Texas, combining Texas Monthly’s rich storytelling legacy and intimate knowledge of the state with Penguin Random House’s publishing excellence and national reach.
Thank Crom for Texas Monthly! Victory or Death!
Here’s three that will definitely hit the Frontier Partisans shelves:
True to the Union
By Stephen Harrigan
Stephen Harrigan’s sequel to his New York Times bestseller The Gates of the Alamo will be a novel every bit as epic and intimate as his previous masterpiece. Spanning a tumultuous, violent period between the 1840s and the Civil War, True to the Union is at heart a love story between Terrell Mott, one of the principal characters of The Gates of the Alamo, and Hannah Schönleber, a young German emigrant who has come to Texas after a harrowing and heartbreaking passage from her homeland. Together, Terrell and Hannah will be swept up in the fight over slavery, which will tear their world apart and force them to make wrenching choices about each other, their family, and their ideals. Their story will culminate in a high-risk attempt to flee Texas as they are pursued by Confederate partisans, one of whom is Terrell’s best friend.
The Bowie Knife That Killed Dracula
By William Broyles and Stephen Harrigan
At the end of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the infamous count is killed by a Texan named Quincey Morris, whose iconic weapon is a bowie knife. William Broyles and Stephen Harrigan have seized upon this literary fragment to create a sweeping, endlessly surprising saga that will take readers from the pyramids of Tenochtitlán to the battered walls of the Alamo, the court of Queen Victoria, and, finally, the deep and spectral forests of Transylvania. Along the way, they will encounter an undead Aztec vampire; historical figures like Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley; and Erzsebet, the ruthless and ambitious “bride” of Dracula who casts her erotic spell over Quincey and then becomes his unlikely ally in the dramatic final battle with Dracula.
The third book in the Which Way Tree trilogy
By Elizabeth Crook
The saga of Benjamin Shreve—a character who captivated readers in his previous appearances in Elizabeth Crook’s novels The Which Way Tree and The Madstone—comes to its powerful conclusion. Benjamin is now an old man, a rancher on the Texas-Mexico border looking back on his life and the mysteries that still haunt him. Told in the same singular, unforgettable voice that reviewers have compared to the writings of Mark Twain and Charles Portis, this new novel will bring Benjamin’s lifelong quest to find out what happened to his half sister, Samantha—the panther-scarred girl of The Which Way Tree—to fruition at last.
I am, in honor of this wonderful news, going to climb to the top of my TBR pile and shout at the robot hordes:
Matthew says
There’s actually an anime called Read or Die.
I don’t think we will ever be a post-literate society but we may become a less literate society. That won’t be the end of the world of the world since for the most people for the majority of human history were illiterate but it will certainly not be good. Reading can open up whole worlds to people which I know is a cliche saying but cliches are often cliches because they are true.
About AI, the philosopher/psychologist Iain McGhilcrist said that the problem with AI may be less that machines become like humans than humans become like machines.
Alan Tompkins says
What I have against AI AND, I may add: Computers, is that the rising generation learns things by the click of a button, meaning that they do not stop and think and figure out, research. The answer may be at the fingertips but the understanding is lacking.
Call me Old Fashioned. I will take a book anyday rather than hack away at a computer screen.
~Alan Tompkins,
former member
Brigade of the American Revolution
Bill aka The Black Tyrone says
Matthew, a refreshing and thoughtful comment, one that should elicit mature reflection. I have had such discussions going back to graduate studies many years ago. Thankyou.
Matthew says
Thank you and your welcome.
patrulje says
My grandson is just a little over 2 years old and he already has 50 books on his book shelves. My mom read to me and started me down the path as a reader. I did the same with my daughter and the tradition continues. On another note the “The Bowie Knife That Killed Dracula” sounds like a fun pulp/steampunk read. When I saw the name of the author I did a double take and had to look him up, I served with CSM Jimmy Broyles here in TX and wondered if it was a relative. It does not appear to be, while William Broyles resume is impressive. It doesn’t hold a candle to CSM Broyles. https://75thrra.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2021_1.pdf
Bill aka Black Tyrone says
Reading a nice variety of subjects is as Lincoln did. We all know the story of his reading borrowed books by candlelight or fireplace. I don’t what to sound too much a lecturer but books are as Mathew said a “key” to worlds past present and future. Sounds like your grandson is in good hands. I have told kids that they should always be reading something even if its the back of a cereal box at breakfast. Never be a one trick pony and don’t use books as expensive wall paper. I read quite a bit of nonfiction and serious historical fiction probably while I still teach after retirement from the business world. Best
Bill aka The Black Tyrone says
Before I turn in, this ole warhorse read Stephen Harrigan’s Alamo novel some years ago. (review on Amazon along with a couple hundred others. This I highly recommend. Currently completing one of the many “Custer books” I have read. Nathaniel Philbrick’s The last Stand (member LBHA} besides Connell’s work,one to read. Lastly I am halfway through Charles Miller’s The Lunatic Expess. Miller is deceased but along with the great late Walter Lord kept me going on. Miller’s work is a very contextual history of East Africa including the building of the famous railroad of which the Tsavo lions figure prominently. Its no secret of my admiration for Rudyard Kipling hence my “handle”.Bon soir mes amis.
JimC says
I need to read The Lunatic Express.
Ugly Hombre says
If you read overmuch on compuker’s and not parchment the window in your mind for learning will narrow and the compuker will make your attention paying ability dwindle down to almost nothing. Mea culpa. Alas, I have tested this on myself and found it to be true.. its got to the point that I lose complete books in the disarray of the rude hovel library and am forced to attempt to buy another copy.(that’s bad!) I hate the “evil machines” but without them in modern times- you’re dead in the water.. “everything is in the compuker but the compuker don’t work.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlN-GGRU5T0
So Dracula was done in by a Bowie? That’s interesting. I will try to find a paperback of the original novel- if I read it on the compuker. I probably won’t be able to find my glasses or my car again. (“compuker” and “evil machine” T.M. Jim Martin) lol
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KF7eWKu2fW4/maxresdefault.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJPk7G7aXTc
Bill aka Black Tyrone says
Ugly Hombre, of course one today cannot do with out “Tech”. A supplement needed but Hold the line. Stay with me. If you find yourself surrounded by green pastures with sunlight on your face, do not be alarmed…You are in “reading” Elysium.
ps gotta take care of the grass today as I do not own goats.
Ugly Hombre says
Quite right Sir, the “Infernal Machines” have taken over the world you can’t get squat done without them. We are hooked. I am not entirely convinced that A.I. is totally the invention of Old Scratch but the Luciferians have a wide claim on it. Before I got kicked off of “X” I made friends with the early Mr. Grok and found him to be a impish fellow, with a sense of humor who had to tell the truth if you asked the little Devil the right questions. His program required it. I may have got him in trouble as I quoted him in debate and seems it got him reprogramed.. And then he was forced back into the dark side. lol.
I have to get a new car and took one for a test it was like driving a compuker and no fun full of deadly gadgets the G.D. thing actually turns off when you stop at a stop light a girl I know was almost killed by that , the sales creature said that no one has liked it in three years of test drives but it is written jalopys must be full of compuker gadgets from now on.
I agree the world is still a beautiful place full of books that need reading etc. I often take my books, coffee, mu jian and peanuts to the park that is almost empty slurp java and read and feed the birds Jays and Crows but the Crows are now on a diet as they chit on my truck..lol
“Everything is in the Compuker- but the Compuker don’t work”
Who cares! just read a book! lol
Barry McKnight says
“Read or Die”. As a librarian, I wholeheartedly agree.
JimC says
Dude, you are Conan the Librarian.
John M. says
“Don’t you know the Dewey Decimal System?!”
Reinhard Windeler says
Is the title of Elizabeth Crook’s new novel not yet known? Or did I miss something? There’s not even any mention of it on the author’s own website.
JimC says
No, you’re right — it’s not titled yet I guess. She mentioned Texas Monthly on Facebook, too, but didn’t say what the title is.
JimC says
This is what she said on FB:
Jean says
Great stuff. I’m 77 years old and I’ve heard that books would be dead as far back as the 1970s. I don’t believe it. It is very hard to get rid of something that you can take up into the far away country and still enjoy it by a fire.
I believe that I am seeing many people coming back to books over reading on a tablet. Books are easy on the eyes but tablets are not. All this is to say that reading is a long ways from being dead.
JimC says
I hope you are right. Always good to hear from you Jean.
The Black Tyrone says
Jean, your words comfort me.
Alan Tompkins says
AMEN for Historians who pen their thoughts and research to expand our understanding through their research.