Nothing Happened and Then It Did

From Booklist

> In his first book, Silverstein, editor
> of Texas Monthly, offers eight wry
> essays with one intriguing twist: half
> of them are fact and half of them are
> fiction. He has a great deal of fun
> tweaking boundaries and bending
> perceptions, for it is often the
> factual accounts that strain
> credulity. Silverstein took his first
> journalism job in [Marfa], Texas, for
> the Big Bend Sentinel when he was 24.
> The barren land and wide-open skies of
> far-western Texas fire his imagination
> and his ambition, but finding the big
> story that will make his name proves
> arduous; in one hilarious running gag,
> he is forever being outmaneuvered by
> reporters from the New Yorker. Other
> chapters cover the most dangerous road
> race in the world, a search for pirate
> Jean Lafitte’s treasure in the
> Louisiana swamps, and a poetry contest
> in Reno, Nevada, in which Silverstein
> is forced to consider whether adding a
> dance routine to his recital of his
> poem would give him a competitive
> edge. A terrific combination of droll
> humor and fine writing makes this
> title one to savor. --Joanne Wilkinson