Texas is not usually the first American state that springs to mind for a literary trip. New England has its writers’ houses, New York has its publishing history, and the Deep South has a long shelf of Gothic novelists. Yet Texas rewards readers handsomely. It has one of the great literary archives of the world, a remarkable second-hand book trade, a famous book festival every autumn and a strong tradition of writers who made the state’s sheer size their subject. The trick is that everything is spread out, so a book-minded visit takes a little more planning than a weekend in a single city.
Start in the Middle at Dallas Fort Worth
Most British visitors arrive at Dallas Fort Worth International, which has direct flights from Heathrow and sits almost exactly between the two cities it is named after. That location makes it an excellent base for a reading holiday, and DFW rental cars put travellers within half an hour of both downtowns as soon as they land. Public transport in North Texas is improving, but the bookshops, libraries and museums worth seeing are scattered across a metro area larger than some English counties. A car also opens up the longer drives south to Austin and north-west into Larry McMurtry country, which are well worth the time.
Driving in Texas is less daunting than it sounds. The roads are wide, the motorways (freeways, locally) are well signed, and an automatic gearbox removes half the worry. The main adjustment is remembering that a right turn on a red light is usually allowed after stopping, unless a sign says otherwise.
Dallas: Bookshops, a Folio and a Window
Dallas is where the second-hand book chain Half Price Books began, in the early 1970s, and its flagship shop on Northwest Highway is a destination in itself. It is enormous, slightly chaotic in the best way, and stocked with everything from paperback thrillers to rare first editions kept behind glass. An hour there passes in about ten minutes.
For something smaller, the city’s independent shops have real character. The Wild Detectives, in the Bishop Arts area of Oak Cliff, combines a bookshop with a bar and café and a busy programme of readings, while Interabang Books has built a loyal following among serious readers. Both are good places to ask for recommendations by Texan authors, which can be hard to find in British shops.
Downtown, the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library holds something that surprises many visitors: a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, owned by the Dallas Public Library and displayed for the public. It is free to see, and standing in front of it in a city better known for oil and football is a strange, lovely experience.
A short walk away is the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, in the old Texas School Book Depository. Its subject is the assassination of President Kennedy, and it is sobering rather than literary, but readers who have worked through any of the shelf of books on November 1963, Stephen King’s time-travel novel 11/22/63 among them, will find it hard to skip.
Fort Worth: Art, Cattle and Westerns
Fort Worth is about forty minutes west of Dallas, and it feels like a different place entirely. The Cultural District holds two excellent free-entry museums. The Kimbell Art Museum is as famous for its Louis Kahn building as for its collection, while the Amon Carter Museum of American Art is strong on paintings of the American West by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Anyone who has read their way through westerns, classic or modern, will recognise the world those paintings capture.
The Stockyards, on the north side of town, lean into the cowboy heritage with gusto, including a small cattle drive through the streets twice a day. It is touristy, certainly, but it brings to life the trail-driving era at the heart of Lonesome Dove.
A Detour for McMurtry Readers
Larry McMurtry, who wrote Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show and Terms of Endearment, grew up in the small town of Archer City, about two and a half hours north-west of Fort Worth. He spent much of his life as a dedicated antiquarian bookseller as well as a novelist, and turned parts of his hometown into a vast used-book operation. The business has changed considerably in recent years, so it is worth checking what is open before making the drive. Even so, the town itself, flat and quiet beneath a huge sky, is the backdrop to The Last Picture Show, and for devoted readers simply seeing it is reason enough.
Austin: The Archive and the Festival
Austin is roughly three hours south of Dallas by car, and it is where a literary trip to Texas reaches its peak. The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas holds one of the most important literary and cultural archives anywhere, including a Gutenberg Bible and the earliest surviving photograph. Its manuscript collections run from Joyce to Faulkner, and its public exhibitions, which change regularly, are free to visit. A gallery visit can easily fill a morning.
BookPeople, one of the largest independent bookshops in the country, is a short drive away and has a terrific Texas section. Visitors planning a trip for the autumn should also look at the dates for the Texas Book Festival, which normally takes place in and around the State Capitol in the autumn and brings in hundreds of authors for talks and signings, most of them free.
When to Go and What to Bring
Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons. Texas summers are brutally hot, with temperatures regularly above 35°C, which makes walking between bookshops a sweaty business. Winters are generally mild, though the occasional ice storm can bring the whole region to a halt.
Practically, British visitors need a valid ESTA before flying, and a UK driving licence is normally accepted for hiring a car as a visitor. As for holiday reading, the obvious choices are McMurtry, Cormac McCarthy, whose Border Trilogy ranges across Texas and Mexico, and Katherine Anne Porter, the Texas-born short story writer. Reading them on the ground, with the scenery outside the car window, makes the books feel newly alive.
A bigger suitcase than usual is also wise. Between Half Price Books, the independents and the festival, almost nobody comes home with the same amount of luggage they left with.
