sarahiki Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I just read "The Liar's Club" by Mary Karr. It's a memoir about her childhood in an east Texas town near Houston in the early 60's. I loved the way she evoked the place and the time. Can anyone else recommend good books that are set in or around Houston? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 David Lindsey's earlier Stuart Haydon novels, such as A Cold Mind and Spiral. Warning: graphic and gruesome violence.Robert Leleux's Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy. A humane and funny memoir of growing up gay in the Houston area.Larry McMurtry's early works like Moving On, All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers, and Terms of Endearment. Rice University and Montrose of the '60s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 You would want to read a bit about these first to see if they're your kind of thing but, in addition to those mentioned already, you could try Tommy Thompson's Blood and Money (true crime, but a seminal work in the genre, like In Cold Blood) or June Arnold's Baby Houston...Not everyone's a fan, but I like Donald Barthelme's stories, and at least one is set in Houston - just can't remember which. I want to say Antonya Nelson talks about Houston in more than one of her short stories - one was in the New Yorker last year.Then there's Steve McVicker's I Love You, Phillip Morris - true crime - which is being made or has been made into a movie starring I think Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.There's a lot of not great true crime set in Houston, but I can't recall off the top of my head any such books other than the two that I mentioned that had much success with the critics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahiki Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 You would want to read a bit about these first to see if they're your kind of thing but, in addition to those mentioned already, you could try Tommy Thompson's Blood and Money (true crime, but a seminal work in the genre, like In Cold Blood) or June Arnold's Baby Houston...Not everyone's a fan, but I like Donald Barthelme's stories, and at least one is set in Houston - just can't remember which. I want to say Antonya Nelson talks about Houston in more than one of her short stories - one was in the New Yorker last year.Then there's Steve McVicker's I Love You, Phillip Morris - true crime - which is being made or has been made into a movie starring I think Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.There's a lot of not great true crime set in Houston, but I can't recall off the top of my head any such books other than the two that I mentioned that had much success with the critics.Donald Barthelme's "I bought a little city" is set in Galveston. It was featured on the New Yorker fiction podcast last year. You can still get it on ITunes (for free). I definitely would like to read more of his work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Joe Lansdale's Act of Love is about a serial killer in Houston. Unfortunately it's not very good, his later books are much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Donald Barthelme's "I bought a little city" is set in Galveston. It was featured on the New Yorker fiction podcast last year. You can still get it on ITunes (for free). I definitely would like to read more of his work.Thanks for the tip - didn't know about the podcasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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