The Big Bend area of West Texas is both seductive and elusive to visitors. The immense scale, loneliness and beauty of the desert scenery can immediately charm any visitor to this remote borderland, and many books have succeeded in extolling these virtues. However, the human denizens of the Big Bend can be quirky lot, with a big dose of individuality an apparent requirement for remaining in these parts for very long.
In this new large-format book, James Evans has succeeded admirably in capturing for the viewer the essence of the human dimension of this vast land. Yes there are panoramas and thunderstorms on these pages, but it's the direct and intimate portraits of the people that will capture your attention. Elderly ranchers (and ranch women), young children, Anglos, Hispanics, funerals, dances, homes, animals - all powerful and direct visual statements. Many of these scenes aren't pretty. There's grit and violence, poverty, sadness; but it's all real. Evans has spent the past 15 years living in the Big Bend (he has a studio and gallery in tiny Marathon, TX), taking time to really know his subjects, gaining their trust, opening a window of truth before his lens. As a regular visitor to these parts, I feel Evans has finally captured the real essence of this amazing region for all of us Big Bend lovers to enjoy.
There are 102 duotone photographs, most are full or double page. A real bonus is James' comments about each photograph in the rear appendix. It is there we come to understand a little more about each of his subjects, and ultimately a bit about Evans as well. And good value, too; lots of book here for the quite reasonable price. And I like the horned lizard endpapers.

As a native of East Texas and a (voluntary) resident of Huntsville for the past three years, I was a bit skeptical when I heard about this book. Even so, I was delighted to see that Robert Draper's first novel has captured the spirit of Huntsville. As Hadrian travels through town, Draper's description is as close to fact as I can expect in a work of fiction. Draper employs mature literary techniques, but he lost my fifth star by letting the narrator explain the obvious plot parallels that he had already efficiently developed. On the other hand, his use of symbols and references from classical literature illuminates his accurate description of the the Texas criminal justice system and the community that it has created. Overall, it is a fine first work.

In his debut novel, Robert Draper deftly steers his reader off the main highways and deep into the red-dirt cotton fields and the dark pine forests that lie east of Houston, Texas to visit a company town where incarceration is the company business. Shepherdsville (standing in for Hunstville), Texas is the home of the state prison system bureaucracy and many of its notorious penitentiaries. The compelling story skips around the lives of two small-town boys who grew up together and remain bound to each other in ways that they do not imagine. One would become the town's top prison boss; the other would become the prison's only successful escapee. It is a story of loyalty, lies, love and legacies among fathers, sons and best friends. Those who have enjoyed the crisp writing and engaging character descriptions from Draper's many pieces in Texas Monthly and GQ magazine will not be disappointed by his first novel. Draper starts off wordy in the first chapter (would anybody in East Texas really describe someone as "Mister Loquacious"?); but he quickly recovers his sense of economy and delivers a clear winner.

I was priviliged to meet Mr. Draper at a book signing in Longview, Texas last week. Soon thereafter I finished the book, whch has characters which not only have depth and dimension but who I know as counterparts in everyday life. Although they are (honestly) fictitous, they are flesh and blood within this story, and will be to anyone who has lived around small, east Texas towns like Sheperdsville (or Huntsville, Palestine, or any of the other Texas towns that the prison system holds as the primary local industry). Hadrian Coleman is the new honorable man in a world turned against him. I look forward to Robert's next book, which he assured me he's well along on. I'll be waiting to read the galleys when I can get my hands on them.