True Facts, Tall Tales, and Pure Fiction (Southwestern Writers Collection Series)

"He does it all so well. He could, as they say in Washington, make a conservative cry, a liberal laugh. He watches with a perfect eye; he listens with a perfect pitch. . . . This latest collection of his stuff shows off everything he has. . . . Every page is a story, every word is a gem."

—from the Foreword by Jim Lehrer

"For years now I've considered Larry L. King one of the finest and most versatile of our American writers. . . . Even at his most cutting, his writing would be characterized by a commitment to authentic American values—almost to an older and vanished America whose expressed ideals of democratic justice and humility touched somehow the unsophisticated young men in its provinces and shaped them into maturity. "

—Willie Morris

"Truth," writes Larry L. King, "is a matter of shadings. It has that in common with its low-born cousin, lies, which may be born little and white or big and mean and soul-darkening. Nobody much understands this except writers, lawyers, and politicians. Few of those will admit it. . . . So be warned: some of this book is more true than the rest."

This volume brings together five essays that Mr. King considers "true facts," ten that constitute "tall tales," and four short stories that he classifies as "pure fiction." All of these pieces represent an ongoing attempt to define and understand his native place and his mind's country. They cover subjects ranging from a rape trial to dubious recipes and points between: writing, politics, Little League baseball, Texas basketball, racial integration in the military, dogs, sinning, and stories of troubled lives.

Many of these pieces were previously published in such magazines as Texas Monthly, Story, The Washingtonian, and Parade, while several appear here in print for the first time. All of them bear the trademark humor and style that characterize Mr. King's hit Broadway plays, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and The Night Hank Williams Died. For fans of Larry L. King—as well as for people just discovering the broader range of his work—this collection proves once again why he is one of America's preeminent, and funniest, essayists.