Table of Contents

• Foreword (Larry L. King)
• Introduction (Steven L. Davis)
• Part 1: Strange Peaches in the "Land of the Permanent Wave"
  • Is He Edwin, or Is He Bud?
  • Cops Eat Kid's Pet
  • Priest Taunted at Mansfield
  • Letter: April 10, 1963, from the Navel of Mother Europe
  • Jason and the Oui Oui Club (from But Not for Love)
  • The Land of the Permanent Wave
  • John Lee Wallace, Reporting from Dallas (from Strange Peaches)
  • There Will Be Chickens
  • The Hunts of Dallas
  • Visit to Big Earl's (from Strange Peaches)
  • Letter: August 7, 1969, on Dallas
  • The Kennedy Motorcade (from Strange Peaches)
  • No Day for Games
• Part 2: From New York to Chihuahua
  • Letter: February 2, 1966, to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle
  • Letters from New York, 1964-1966
  • The Once-Forbidding Land
  • Gerhardt's Farm (from Blessed McGill)
  • Matthew Caldwell in Houston City (from The Borderland)
  • Letter: May 29, 1965, on Writing Blessed McGill
  • Letter: September 8, 1966, on Visiting Chihuahua
  • The Tarahumaras: A Lonely Tribe of Long-Distance Runners
  • Letter: October 4, 1967, on the Publication of Blessed McGill
  • Going into Chihuahua (from Blessed McGill)
• Part 3: Mad Dogs and Outlaws
  • The Best-Kept Secret in America (from Willie: An Autobiography)
  • The Screwing Up of Austin
  • Letter: December 16, 1969, on Mad Dog, Inc.
  • The Regenerator Erection Laboratory (from Peter Arbiter)
  • Letter: August 1, 1969, from Zihuatanejo
  • Scenes from Kid Blue ("Dime Box")
  • Letter: November 4, 1973, on Larry Mahan
  • Horsing Around with Bull
  • Rafting the Big Bend
• Part 4: Night Never Falls
  • Letters to Larry L. King, 1978-1983
  • Scene from "Pancho Villa and Ambrose Bierce"
  • Scenes from "The Big Mamoo"
  • The Angels of Dien Bien Phu (from Night Never Falls)
  • Letter: March 8, 1988, to LLK, on Being "Sodbuster Two"
  • Backstories: Sodbusters One and Two
  • Letter: February 12, 1998, to LLK, on Getting Older
  • Showdown at the Colonial (from Billy Boy)
  • From Custer's Brother's Horse
  • How to Live Forever

Promotional Information

The foremost works of one of Texas's most influential writers

About the Author

Edwin "Bud" Shrake has worked as a journalist for Sports Illustrated, written several filmed screenplays, and is the author of several acclaimed novels, including Blessed McGill, Strange Peaches, and Billy Boy. He is also the co-author of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, the best-selling sports book of all time. Shrake's newest novel is Custer's Brother's Horse.

Steven L. Davis is the Assistant Curator of the Southwestern Writers Collection at Texas State University-San Marcos.

Reviews

"Land of the Permanent Wave offers a vibrant look at American and Texas culture through the eyes of one of the most remarkable writers the state has produced. Edwin "Bud" Shrake seems to have packed about six lifetimes worth of living into one, and he writes about his experiences with intelligence, wit, and skill." Ben Fountain, award-winning author of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara