When Mayor Lee Leffingwell announced his first pick for the Mayor’s Book Club on Wednesday, Dec. 9, for the first time in the citywide reading program’s history, the author of the selected book was in attendance at City Hall. Then again, Amigoland author Oscar Casares didn’t have very far to travel: The critically acclaimed writer and University of Texas professor is a fixture of the Central Texas literary community. Casares first came to attention with his 2003 collection, Brownsville: Stories, which was inspired by his upbringing in the Texas border town of the title. Casares revisits the same border space in his well-received novel Amigoland, which was published this summer and should occupy the time and minds of Austin readers through to spring. (See our interview with Casares, “The Town Crier,” Aug. 7.)

Oscar Casares Credit: Photo by Jana Birchum

Copies of Amigoland will be widely available at the Austin Public Library and at Austin-area bookstores. The Keep Austin Reading campaign runs this January through April, with related community workshops, film screenings, and other special events planned. For more information, visit www.cityofaustin.org/library.


This article appears in December 11 • 2009.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...