Two Things to Like About Texas

I've never been to Texas. I suspect that I've held an unfairly unfavorable opinion of the place, based primarily upon its being the location of the Crawford ranch and its electing of politicians such as Phil Gramm, who was fond of saying, "I have more guns than I need, but not as many as I want." I have been dimly aware of the Austin area as an island of culture and relative liberalism, but overall, Texas has never seemed too welcoming to me.

Then about a dozen years ago, a Boston DJ had the gumption to play a song called "Safe Side" by a Texas singer/songwriter named James McMurtry, the son of novelist Larry McMurtry. The lyrics take an ironic look at ethnic and economic tensions along the Texas/Mexico border:

Down in Piedras Negras
You gotta watch yourself
There's a whole lotta hungry people
Looking to share some wealth
And when the oil field's busted
And the peso takes a dive
Stay off of the side streets
If you want to come back alive.

Despite hearing it only a few times, I never forgot that song.

Then, a few years ago, McMurtry released Childish Things, a CD that won the Americana album and song of the year for the anthemic "We Can't Make It Here," simply the most arresting political song since Bob Dylan's work in the 60's. McMurtry now figures prominently in my CD collection.

In the meantime, the film No Country for Old Men has been released and subsequently won the Oscar for best picture. Its success directed my attention to the novels of Cormac McCarthy, a writer I'd somehow overlooked despite his winning the National Book Award. I started with NCFOM and am now halfway through the border trilogy, three novels that explore the cultural interplay along--you guessed it--the border with Mexico. In fact, much of the action in NCFOM takes place in Piedras Negras.

I am stunned by the richness of McCarthy's writing. His ear for spare, pithy dialog is remarkable, and his descriptive passages sluice over you in a cascade of arroyos and gulches and creekbeds and washes, all exotic and evocative to a Massachusetts lifer. I fully expect to read every book that McCarthy has written, and will write.

I think maybe I owe Texas an apology.

Update--I have to add a third virtue for the Lone Star state: The recent SXSW (south by southwest) conference and festival in Austin. This Peace-and-Arts themed festival featured scores of top bands and even offered Lou Reed as the keynote speaker.