J. Frank Dobie (1888–1964)

At its most basic, this is a memoir about the time Dobie spent lecturing at Cambridge during the Second World War, but it really has a lot more layers than that. It's a study of place and how it affects selfhood, about homesickness and how you may find out new things about yourself and your home while traveling abroad. It's written in a wry, amusing, occasionally lyrical style and takes his time in England thematically rather than chronologically.

It contains such interesting digressions as: show more a list of the topics covered in Cambridge's general examinations, information about the political state of British farming, speculations as to why it feels so much colder in English lodgings than out on the lone prairie, excerpts from wills and death notices printed in the Times, a description of the ideal English pub, a screed about the difficulty of finding coffee in Wales, and an impassioned plea against fascism, listing all those things peculiarly English that Dobie felt needed to be protected from the depredations of the Nazis.

As a Texan who has lived in England, I was perhaps particularly interested in this and found many of his observations were still true. But beyond that, it is really a unique, strange, and charming memoir. show less

A decent enough recapitulation of various “buried treasure” and mine legends from around the state of Texas. Such stories don’t really interest me, so I was mostly bored, though some managed to almost be told like a ghost story, which was somewhat gripping. Introduced and edited (and commented) by legendary Texas writer J. Frank Dobie, who was noted for his liberalism and progressivism on so much, especially on racial issues, it was jarring to read the casual racism doled out about show more Mexican Texans and Black Texans, by both the contributors and Dobie himself. This edition is a reprint by a small outfit from Louisiana, and there are numerous typos and odd formatting, and cross-references to page numbers are unchanged from the original 1920s edition of this volume, which is sadly laughable. Still, a decent account of some Texas folklore. show less

A decent enough recapitulation of various pirate legends and other tales from from around the state of Texas. Such stories don’t really interest me, so I was mostly bored, though some managed to almost be told like a ghost story, which was somewhat gripping. Introduced and edited (and commented) by legendary Texas writer J. Frank Dobie, who was noted for his liberalism and progressivism on so much, especially on racial issues, it was jarring to read the casual racism doled out about show more Mexican Texans and Black Texans, by both the contributors and Dobie himself. A couple of good legends from the pen of Walter Prescott Webb were interesting. This edition is a reprint by a small outfit from Louisiana, and there are numerous typos and odd formatting, and cross-references to page numbers are unchanged from the original 1920s edition of this volume, which is sadly laughable. Still, a decent account of some Texas folklore. show less

This is one of several books Dobie wrote about Texas during the times of the open range, before the fences came. It’s rich in folklore, marked by some wonderful language, and somehow, without a time-linear trend, gives a nice history of the Mustangs from the first horses introduced by the Spanish, to the almost complete removal of all wild horses in North America. The stories, largely folklore, cover the Spanish conquistadors, the Native America handling of horses, the Anglo, Mexican, show more Native American and South American Mustangers who would capture the wild horses, and, of course, the cowboys and gauchos who used the horses as a fundamental part of their livelihood. For me, the best stories were about the wild Mustangs themselves, wild and free, and unhindered by men. But, as much as I liked it, I found it a tough read. The topic is a little obscure, as are the stories. I was never riveted and completely sucked up into the book. I had to read it small bits at a time. show less