Close Calls: Jan Reid's Texas

Writing fine magazine stories is harder than it appears. But then, the best writers have a way of making it look easy. A real craftsman must satisfy two needs---his own urgent need to reveal a story through lines that circle and punch, and the reader's robust need to be actively engaged. But that is the magazine writer's duty, and no one takes it more seriously than Jan Reid, an award-winning Texas writer with a long line of credits with the best magazines in print, including GQ, Esquire, Men's Journal and The New York Times Magazine. Now Texas A & M University Press has compiled a superb collection of Reid's finest work spanning the past 25 years. All but one of the stories in Close Calls first appeared in Texas Monthly, the magazine the Austin-based writer has called home since its inception and where he still is a contributing editor. Reid, in his book's introduction, calls himself an "accidental journalist." For such accidents, we all should feel grateful. From the mean streets of Dallas' toughest neighborhoods to the gorgeous rock cliffs of Palo Duro Canyon, the 16 pieces in the collection range far and wide in celebrating the writer's native state. Texas is Reid's beat, and he covers it with a sympathetic vengeance. Close Calls offers spellbinding stories. There are Mexican jailbreaks, professional prizefighters, beat cops fast with their guns, impoverished Kickapoo Indians, the state's meanest river (the Red), and a bizarre effort in South Texas to breed the endangered African black rhinoceros. Showing considerable courage, Reid is unafraid to shove back the veil and show us what lurks beneath the surface. He can pare a story down to its gritty details, or treat it tongue-in-cheek when humor is merited. In several pieces exploring our state's natural landscapes and wildlife, Reid reveals an eye as perceptive as the legendary Frank Dobie at his best. It so happens that Reid is a devoted boxing fan, and the final two stories detail how that fascination led in a circuitous way to a nightmarish late-night scene in Mexico City in which Reid is shot by a mugger wielding a handgun. Reid survives---truly a close call---but his prognosis afterwards is paraplegia. He will not walk again. But of course, he does. Not only that ... well, read Close Calls for yourself. Reid shows precisely why the best magazine writing has become an art form. You won't be disappointed.