Recent Studies Indicate: The Best of Sarah Bird

Sarah Bird

Published by University of Texas Press 2019

Recent Studies Indicate

The Best of Sarah Bird

Sarah Bird

https://doi.org/10.7560/318683

Overview
Contents

About this book

When Sarah Bird arrived in Austin in 1973 in pursuit of a boyfriend who was “hotter than lava,” she found an abundance of inspiration for storytelling (her sweetheart left her for Scientology, but she got to taste a morsel of Lynda Bird Johnson’s poorly preserved wedding cake as a temp worker at the LBJ Library). Sarah Bird went on to write ten acclaimed novels and contribute hundreds of articles to publications coast to coast, developing a signature voice that combines laser-sharp insight with irreverent, wickedly funny prose in the tradition of Molly Ivins and Nora Ephron

Now collecting forty of Bird’s best nonfiction pieces, from publications that range from Texas Monthly to the New York Times and others, Recent Studies Indicate presents some of Bird’s earliest work, including a prescient 1976 profile of a transgender woman, along with recent calls to political action, such as her 2017 speech at a benefit for Annie’s List.

Whether Bird is hanging out with socialites and sanitation workers or paying homage to her army-nurse mom, her collection brings a poignant perspective to the experience of being a woman, a feminist, a mother, and a Texan—and a writer with countless, spectacular true tales to tell us.

Author / Editor information

Sarah Bird is the author of ten novels, most recently the historical work Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. In addition to working as a screenwriter, Bird has served as a columnist for Texas Monthly and as an occasional contributor to numerous national publications, including O, The Oprah Magazine; the New York Times Magazine; Salon; The Daily Beast; and Glamour. Her many accolades include induction into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame.

Reviews

These essays are a pleasure; Bird makes her readers feel smart, urbane, and in on the joke, and that their own stories are worth sharing too.

— Publishers Weekly

Bird brings her signature no-nonsense wit to topics ranging from motherhood and politics to, of course, the Long Star State.

— Austin Monthly

Recent Studies Indicate is a treasure chest brimming with Bird's distinctive voice: bold, thought-provoking, stitch-in-your-side funny, acerbic when called for, and, in the end, full of joy.

— Lone Star Literary Life

Delightful…you can open the book to just about any story and enjoy a few minutes of good reading and, more likely than note, a hearty laugh.

— Abilene Reporter-News

In her first collection of nonfiction that encompasses over four decades of work, Bird shows off her wit and wisdom on subjects ranging from motherhood to making Texas her adopted home...After reading these entertaining essays, a reader might feel like she’s put in a satisfying visit with an old friend.

— Texas Highways

Sarah Bird has always been a gifted storyteller and wordsmith, and her voice is more timely than ever. Her new collection is lively, honest, and unfailingly feminist. This is a book of essays for anyone who has ever struggled to balance work and parenting, navigated a male-dominated field, or looked around at our current political and cultural landscape and asked,"‘How did we get here?"

— Cecile Richards, Author of Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead

Sarah Bird is a Texas treasure. She's a humorist, but more important, she's an empathist, someone who uses her understanding of Texas and, more important, Texas women, to unite us all. Recent Studies Indicate is indisputable proof.

— Mimi Swartz, Texas Monthly Executive Editor and author of Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart

What sets Sarah Bird apart from other writers is the pure joy she gets out of her characters. And she laughs at herself—a lot. You can't help but grin when you read her, no matter the topic.

— Skip Hollandsworth, author of The Midnight Assassin: The Hunt for America’s First Serial Killer

Sarah Bird's disarming honesty is matched by a deep well of compassion and kookiness and a singular voice that reminds us that being different can be a gift, wherever you land.

— Sarah Hepola, author of The New York Times bestseller Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
WOMANHOOD: THE SECRET DELTA
A Question of Gender AUSTIN SUN, 1976 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Ready, Set, Go-Go! TEXAS MONTHLY, JUNE 2009 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	22
My Surprise Wedding MODERN BRIDE, DECEMBER 2009 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
Princess of the Oil Rigs CAMPUS VOICE, APRIL–MAY 1986 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
Silver Pins and Golden Tresses THIRD COAST, 1987 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
Take a Strutting, Stomping Twelve-Day Vacation from Your Life OPRAH, NOVEMBER 2002 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Buy, Buy, Birdie TEXAS MONTHLY, APRIL 2006 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
Neck and Neck TEXAS MONTHLY, NOVEMBER 2006 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
Is This Really What Meemaw Had in Mind? SPEECH AT ANNIE’S LIST/ TEXAS TRIBUNE LUNCHEON, APRIL 26, 2017 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
TEXAS: SO MANY WAYS FOR A GIRL TO LOSE HER VIRGINITY
Clouds FROM BETWEEN HEAVEN AND TEXAS BY WYMAN MEINZER, 2006 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
Unlike a Virgin THIRD COAST, 1985 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
From the Archives of the Heartbroken and Spiritually Bereft MOTH RADIO HOUR, RECORDED DECEMBER 12, 2012, PARAMOUNT THEATER, AUSTIN, TEXAS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
Road Coma SOUTHERN MAGAZINE, JULY 1987 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Bumfuzzled TEXAS CO-OP POWER MAGAZINE, 1998 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	120
Talkin’ Trash THIRD COAST, AUGUST 1982 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
Knocking on Heaven’s Door THIRD COAST, JULY 1983 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
The Furs Were Flying TEXAS MONTHLY, MAY 2006 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
Step Lively TEXAS MONTHLY, JUNE 2006 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Horn ’em, Hookers! TEXAS MONTHLY, JANUARY 2007 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Goodbye, Mrs. Chips TEXAS MONTHLY, MARCH 2007 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Hog Wild TEXAS MONTHLY, JULY 2007 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Motherhood: Two Seconds after the Stick Turns Pink
Mombo AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, MAY 9, 1993 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
Nurse Bird GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, NOVEMBER 2009 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Lactation Nation TEXAS MONTHLY, AUGUST 2008 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
The Q Gene NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, MAY 1, 1994 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
Going Private TEXAS MONTHLY, OCTOBER 2006 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
Pedal to My Mettle TEXAS MONTHLY, AUGUST 2006 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Tour de Farce TEXAS MONTHLY, FEBRUARY 2007 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
Craigslust TEXAS MONTHLY, DECEMBER 2007 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Ranch Blessing TEXAS MONTHLY, AUGUST 2009 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
The Goodbye Boy TEXAS MONTHLY, DECEMBER 2008 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Writing: Use It in Your Work
For Keith FOR AIDS BENEFIT “QUEER VOICES,” SEPTEMBER 1998 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Flash Back THE ALCALDE (THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE TEXAS EXES), MAY/JUNE 2011 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	232
Shrines to a Common Good SPEECH TO THE TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, JULY 2017 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	238
Passion Victim TEXAS MONTHLY, MAY 2005 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	242
Read ’em and Weep TEXAS MONTHLY, OCTOBER 2005 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Say “Cheesy” TEXAS MONTHLY, JANUARY 2006 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254
Meat, My Maker TEXAS MONTHLY, JULY 2012 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	258
The Big Sleep TEXAS MONTHLY, OCTOBER 2013 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
Paisano TEXAS HIGHWAYS, NOVEMBER 2018 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	274
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	284

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 287

eBook

Published: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 9781477318690