The Texas Experience by Archie P. McDonald (review)

Reviews 173 instance, is quoted as saying he “never . . . saw a cowboy with two guns.” Another Texas cowboy reveals he “always took plenty of novels ... and usually a cat” when he went out to work on the winter range. Freedman dispels a lot of the glamour surrounding the image of the American cowboy, but he does so gently, in the manner of one who was himself brought up believing the cowboy was a “fellow who says ‘yup’ and ‘nope,’ who never complains, who shoots straight, and whose horse comes when he whistles.” By portraying a more accurate and complete picture of cowboy life, Freedman is telling children that cowboys were heroes enough as they were—without the embellishments others later deemed it necessary to add to their image. CHARLOTTE M. WRIGHT Utah State University The Texas Experience. Compiled by Archie P. McDonald. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1986. 179 pages, $19.95.) This very attractive volume was published for the Texas Committee for the Humanities as part of the celebration of the Texas Sesquicentennial. Designed for prominent display, it has a pleasing cover and seven excellent color and many black and white illustrations. The book consists of seventy vignettes, arranged roughly chronologically, that give insight into the culture and history of Texas. Not designed for the scholar or specialist, the book is aimed at the general reader who has a desire to get only fairly superficial information on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the Battle of the Alamo to modern Texas architecture. As is to be expected with a book of this sort, the vignettes are heavily weighted toward political history. Relatively little attention is given to geography, geology, or contemporary matters. Still, many little-known facets of culture are treated, such as Mexican-American mural art, Hispanic theater, and Texas folk tales. Each vignette is followed by a short statement saying who contributed to it and giving usually one suggestion for further reading. Oddly, no general sug­ gestions for further reading are given. The volume would have benefited greatly from an index and a compre­ hensive list of contributors. As it is, the contributors’ names are confined to paragraphs following each vignette. The explanation for this procedure is that the compiler took information supplied by the contributors and worked it into a uniform style, added to it and subtracted from it, and edited it severely. Still, this method of treating the contributors, many of whom are outstanding scholars, reduces them to the status of research assistants. All in all, the volume serves its purpose well. It gives the reader quick access to a variety of information about Texas, past and present, and it pre­ sents its material with grace and efficiency. RICHARD TUERK East Texas State University ...