W. D. Howells in the News
Sunday, May 16, 2004
From the Houston Chronicle:
Jim Sanderson, an English professor at Lamar University, is the author of four novels, a short-story collection and a collection of essays -- all having to do with Texas. His latest book, Nevin's History (Texas Tech University Press, 277 pp. $27.95), is historical fiction, set in the time of the violent border conflict in the lower Rio Grande Valley in the 1870s and the development of San Antonio in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The story is told in the voice of Andrew Nevin, the cowardly but charming nephew of legendary Texas Ranger, Confederate hero and Indian fighter Rip Ford. Central figures in the story are Ford, Texas Ranger L.H. McNelly and the Mexican general and border bandit Juan Cortina. Nevin also encounters Richard King, Mark Twain and William Dean Howells, among others. "Only two of the major characters are fictional," author Sanderson says. "But one fictional character is my narrator, Andrew Nevin, who puts his particular spin on history."
