Longhorn Reviews

By: Wilson, Cintra

My friend Stephanie recommended this book to me. She picked it up in the Bay Area where the author is a local celebrity. Turns out Wilson is also a performing artist and arts critic, even more reason for me, as Fine Arts Librarian, to delve into this novel. It is another coming of age story, this one of Liza Normal (who is anything but normal). Her raison d’etre is to become a successful actress and/or singer. The book is the trials and tribulations of this quest. The characters that surround Liza include her loudmouth mother, reclusive brother, and a whole host of bizarre and endearing characters. Wilson’s book is hilarious. From the first few pages, until the very end, I was completely engaged and amused.

Reviewer: Laura Schwartz

By: Tanney, Katherine

I love fiction especially coming of age stories. I was having lunch with Nancy Schiesari, a Radio-Television-Film professor and lauded cinematographer earlier this Spring and she recommended Carousel of Progress to me. The story is about a teenage girl growing up in L.A. whose parents are getting divorced. There is so much truth and honesty in this tale, the characters are so real, and the dynamics of the relationships so complex. Tanney grew up in L.A. and now lives in Austin, just like me. Schiesari knows Tanney personally because
Tanney is also a cinematographer. The story was so familiar, it was hard to put down.

Reviewer: Laura Schwartz