Flashback : Dallas

by Paula Bosse

There are a few more gift-buying days left until Christmas. Here a few ideas of recently published books about Dallas that might be of interest. These are not paid links — not even a review copy has been received (which I am not averse to, by the way…). I’d prefer if you headed over to your friendly neighborhood independent bookseller, but, yeah, I’m mostly linking to Am*z*n.

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Above, Metro Music: Celebrating a Century of the Trinity River Groove by Gene Fowler and William Williams (TCU Press — oversized paperback). This is an exhaustive look at Dallas music, with over 500 photos (!). This is great. Again, over 500 photos! Be still my heart. More info here.

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Deadly Dallas: A History of Unfortunate Incidents & Grisly Fatalities by Rusty Williams (History Press — paperback). Among the “unfortunate incidents” Rusty has written about, one is a story I’ve been meaning to write about for YEARS — I may never get to it, so I’m glad someone’s written about it. And doesn’t everyone need a book with the words “grisly fatalities” in the title? They do. More info is here. 

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A Girl Named Carrie: The Visionary Who Created Neiman Marcus and Set the Standard for Fashion by Jerrie Marcus Smith (UNT Press — hardcover). A biography of Carrie Marcus Neiman by her great niece. You can’t get much more “Dallas” than Neiman Marcus — the history of Neiman’s is the history of Dallas, and vice-versa. I’m not completely sure this is out yet, but go ahead and mosey over here to find more info. EDIT: Signed copies are available from the Barry Whistler Gallery in the Design District — their contact info is here. 

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The Family Roe: An American Story by Joshua Prager (W. W. Norton & Co. — hardcover). The definitive book on Roe v. Wade, the case that began in Dallas, with lots on Dallas and lots on Texas. Sadly, this subject is newsworthy again. More info here.

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Preston Hollow: A Brief History by Jack Walker Drake (History Press — hardcover and paperback). If you’re interested in Preston Hollow — especially in its houses — you probably need this book, which is packed with photos. The author is, I think, 16. I don’t know what you were doing when you were 16, but you probably weren’t writing a book and doing book-signings! Congrats, Jack! More info here. 

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The Accommodation: The Politics of Race in an American City by Jim Schutze (La Reunion Publishing — hardcover). Long out of print, this important book on the sad and sordid history of racism in Big D has been reprinted by the fine folks at Deep Vellum Books in Deep Ellum. I will not link anywhere but to their own site, here.

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Stomp and Shout: The All-Too-Real Story of Kenny and the Kasuals and the Garage Band Revolution of the Sixties by Kenny Daniels and Richard Parker (Oomph Media — Revised Edition — paperback). And, lastly, a book that isn’t new, but I became aware of it only fairly recently. Along with classic country music, my favorite type of music is 1960s garage rock, and this is a great look at the North Texas garage scene of the 1960s, written by someone who was there — the recently departed Kenny Daniel of the legendary Dallas band Kenny & The Kasuals. More info is here. 

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Hie thee to a bookstore!

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Copyright © 2021 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.