Austin to ATX - Hardcover

Patoski, Joe Nick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1623497035 ISBN 13: 9781623497033

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 2019

Synopsis

In this gonzo history of the “City of the Violet Crown,” author and journalist Joe Nick Patoski chronicles the modern evolution of the quirky, bustling, funky, self-contradictory place known as Austin, Texas. Patoski describes the series of cosmic accidents that tossed together a mashup of outsiders, free spirits, thinkers, educators, writers, musicians, entrepreneurs, artists, and politicians who would foster the atmosphere, the vibe, the slightly off-kilter zeitgeist that allowed Austin to become the home of both Armadillo World Headquarters and Dell Technologies.

Patoski’s raucous, rollicking romp through Austin’s recent past and hipster present connects the dots that lead from places like Scholz Garten—Texas’ oldest continuously operating business—to places like the Armadillo, where Willie Nelson and Darrell Royal brought hippies and rednecks together around music. He shows how misfits like William Sydney Porter—the embezzler who became famous under his pen name, O. Henry—served as precursors for iconoclasts like J. Frank Dobie, Bud Shrake, and Molly Ivins. He describes the journey, beginning with the search for an old girlfriend, that eventually brought Louis Black, Nick Barbaro, and Roland Swenson to the founding of the South by Southwest music, film, and technology festival.

As one Austinite, who in typical fashion is simultaneously pursuing degrees in medicine and cinematography, says, “Austin is very different from the rest of Texas.” Many readers of Austin to ATX will have already realized that. Now they will know why.

About this title

About the Author:

JOE NICK PATOSKI is the author of Willie Nelson: An Epic Life; Generations on the Land: A Conservation Legacy; The Dallas Cowboys: The Outrageous History of the Biggest, Loudest, Most Hated, Best Loved Football Team in America; and other titles and director of Sir Doug and the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove, a documentary film about Texas musician Doug Sahm that premiered at the 2015 South by Southwest Film Festival. After living twenty-two years in Austin, Patoski now resides in Wimberley, Texas.

Review:

Kirkus Reviews  kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/joe-nick-patoski/austin-to-atx/Dec 31, 2018  KIRKUS REVIEW A searching character study of the livelyTexas capital city.
Patoski (The Dallas Cowboys: TheOutrageous History of the Biggest, Loudest, Most Hated, Best Loved FootballTeam in America, 2012, etc.) arrived in Austin in the shiniest days of itsgolden era, a time when every bar hosted live music and the city was "loose,easy, and cheap." As a former music journalist-turned-alt-Texas enthusiast, hewrites about everything that makes Austin what it is, from the paradise ofBarton Springs to the moon towers and Austin City Limits. Hisapproach is celebratory without being cloying, albeit with an elegiac closingthat laments the sad fact that with economic and demographic growth, "Austinhad arrived at the maturation/saturation point of a Manhattan or a SanFrancisco. Limits had been reached." Anyone who's tried to drive I-35 or findan affordable home in the city will appreciate the author's appeal to the goodold days. Along the way from then until now, Patoski hits all the bases, includingthe city's culinary culture, a blend of the trendy and the new with reverencefor the old and hand-rolled (especially when it comes to barbecued meats);Austin's underappreciated literary culture (Patoski ranks this magazine amongthe city's lights, along with writers such as Gary Cartwright and JamesMichener); the movie scene, dominated by Richard Linklater and RobertRodriguez; and, of course, the music, with legendary places like Antone's andthe Armadillo World Headquarters giving hippies and rednecks a place to partytogether. Patoski works with a wealth of material that sometimes overpowers thenarrative; the long sections on Whole Foods could have been cut in half withoutharm, and there's a touch too much repetition of the idea of Austin'suniqueness and the tragedy that it couldn't have been kept weird. Still, ifthere's excess, it's appropriately Texas-sized and easily forgivable.

Fans of the place where "anybody who'sa little different runs...as fast as they can" will find much to like here.
Pub Date: Jan. 22nd, 2019ISBN: 978-1-62349-703-3Page count: 376ppPublisher: Texas A&M Univ.Review Posted Online: Dec. 31st, 2018

About this edition

• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1623497035
• ISBN 13: 9781623497033
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 376