Texas Observer reader,
Books. That’s right—it’s 2025, and I’m using the medium of a print magazine to talk to you about the even longer words-on-paper form that is the book. Why? Because I have the business acumen of someone who edits a small progressive news outlet, in Texas mind you, while having absolutely zero more lucrative backup plans. Qué será, será.
Truly, though, an unanticipated pleasure of becoming editor of this magazine has been needing to fill the so-called back of the book (“book” now meaning magazine—my lord, what am I doing here!), where the quirky culture features, travel dispatches, and book reviews live. I now find myself receiving more and more PR solicitations for books coverage, and even as I know this signals an industry chasing an ever-shrinking target, it’s kind of heartening. People, Texans well represented among them, are still writing a ton of interesting books!
Yes, recent studies show that today’s college students lose focus after reading poems longer than a single word (or, well, along those lines at least), and yes we may all be living essentially in a simulacrum of a simulacrum—consuming digital communications that seem to come from humans but are in fact generated by what we, in our world of fallen standards, have all consented to call “artificial intelligence”…
Um, but back to the positive stuff! A stream of excellent books continues to flow despite it all; in this issue, you’ll find a roundup—by investigations editor and author Lise Olsen—of some tantalizing nonfiction titles featured at the Texas Book Festival in Austin this November. You’ll also find additional thoughtful reviews, and you can always find more online at texasobserver.org/topics/books. We also held two events this year at Austin bookstores tied to new releases, and in our last issue featured one shop that doubles as an alternative music venue.
As this frankly awful year comes to a close, I hope having this magazine lying around will strike an appropriate note, as you celebrate holidays while temporarily avoiding or bravely facing the news as you like. And don’t worry, the issue’s still packed with plenty of disturbing investigative journalism—about oil waste pits, cryptomines, border militarization, and more. We’re still the Texas Observer, after all.
Solidarity,
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