by Clay Reynolds
These fourteen personal essays by one of Texas’ most prolific authors are in turn humorous, literary, informative, nostalgic and all-around enjoyable to read. Written at various periods in his life, they invite us to come to know a man who not only reveals himself as only a poet can do, but who also speaks with profundity and truth about life, its foibles, successes and failures. Whether visiting Aunt Minnie, Graceland, a trout stream, or a secluded book signing, we are always entertained and wiser for the trip.
This is a treasure trove created by one of Texas’s most accomplished authors. Clay Reynolds can be curmudgeonly and he can be lyrical, but he is always smart, and always has a keen eye for absurdity. There isn’t an essay in this volume you’re going to want to miss, whether the subject is the madness of warning labels, the charms of coffee, or the twists and turns of literary reputation. This book is a hoot.
—James Magnuson. Director, Michener Center for Writers,
University of Texas Austin
The great pleasure of fine personal essays is the illusion of good conversation with a writer whose stories and remarks are so engaging we think we’re chatting with him. That happens throughout Clay Reynolds’ new collection as time and again we find ourselves in the midst of good talk about the prickly, sweet and witty personal rhythms of the world that turn out to be our own as much as they have been his.
—James Hoggard, author of Riding The Wind and Wearing The River
With good humor and good sense, Clay Reynolds tees off on modern eccentricities of golf, baseball, warning labels on milk, high school romance, Elvis, writing, and long afternoons with antique aunts. In golfing terms, Reynolds hits a hole in one.
—Robert Flynn, author of Tie-Fast Country and Slouching Toward Zion