Recent Studies Indicate
When Sarah Bird arrived in Austin in 1973 in pursuit of a boyfriend who was “hotter than lava,” she found an abundance of inspiration for storytelling (her sweetheart left her for Scientology, but she got to taste a morsel of Lynda Bird Johnson’s poorly preserved wedding cake as a temp worker at the LBJ Library). Sarah Bird went on to write ten acclaimed novels and contribute hundreds of articles to publications coast to coast, developing a signature voice that combines laser-sharp insight with irreverent, wickedly funny prose in the tradition of Molly Ivins and Nora Ephron
Now collecting forty of Bird’s best nonfiction pieces, from publications that range from Texas Monthly to the New York Times and others, Recent Studies Indicate presents some of Bird’s earliest work, including a prescient 1976 profile of a transgender woman, along with recent calls to political action, such as her 2017 speech at a benefit for Annie’s List.
Whether Bird is hanging out with socialites and sanitation workers or paying homage to her army-nurse mom, her collection brings a poignant perspective to the experience of being a woman, a feminist, a mother, and a Texan—and a writer with countless, spectacular true tales to tell us.
These essays are a pleasure; Bird makes her readers feel smart, urbane, and in on the joke, and that their own stories are worth sharing too.
Bird brings her signature no-nonsense wit to topics ranging from motherhood and politics to, of course, the Long Star State.
Recent Studies Indicate is a treasure chest brimming with Bird's distinctive voice: bold, thought-provoking, stitch-in-your-side funny, acerbic when called for, and, in the end, full of joy.
Delightful…you can open the book to just about any story and enjoy a few minutes of good reading and, more likely than note, a hearty laugh.
In her first collection of nonfiction that encompasses over four decades of work, Bird shows off her wit and wisdom on subjects ranging from motherhood to making Texas her adopted home...After reading these entertaining essays, a reader might feel like she’s put in a satisfying visit with an old friend.
Sarah Bird has always been a gifted storyteller and wordsmith, and her voice is more timely than ever. Her new collection is lively, honest, and unfailingly feminist. This is a book of essays for anyone who has ever struggled to balance work and parenting, navigated a male-dominated field, or looked around at our current political and cultural landscape and asked,'‘How did we get here?'
Sarah Bird is a Texas treasure. She's a humorist, but more important, she's an empathist, someone who uses her understanding of Texas and, more important, Texas women, to unite us all. Recent Studies Indicate is indisputable proof.
What sets Sarah Bird apart from other writers is the pure joy she gets out of her characters. And she laughs at herself—a lot. You can't help but grin when you read her, no matter the topic.
Sarah Bird's disarming honesty is matched by a deep well of compassion and kookiness and a singular voice that reminds us that being different can be a gift, wherever you land.
Sarah Bird is the author of ten novels, most recently the historical work Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. In addition to working as a screenwriter, Bird has served as a columnist for Texas Monthly and as an occasional contributor to numerous national publications, including O, The Oprah Magazine; the New York Times Magazine; Salon; The Daily Beast; and Glamour. Her many accolades include induction into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame.
- Introduction
- Womanhood: The Secret Delta
- A Question of Gender (Austin Sun, 1976)
- Ready, Set, Go-Go! (Texas Monthly, June 2009)
- My Surprise Wedding (Modern Bride, December 2009)
- Princess of the Oil Rigs (Campus Voice, April–May 1986)
- Silver Pins and Golden Tresses (Third Coast, 1987)
- Take a Strutting, Stomping Twelve-Day Vacation from Your Life (Oprah, November 2002)
- Buy, Buy Birdie (Texas Monthly, April 2006)
- Neck and Neck (Texas Monthly, November 2006)
- Is This Really What Meemaw Had in Mind? (Annie’s List/Texas Tribune, April 26, 2017)
- Texas: So Many Ways for a Girl to Lose Her Virginity
- Clouds (from Between Heaven and Texas by Wyman Meinzer, University of Texas Press, 2006)
- Unlike a Virgin (Third Coast, 1985)
- From the Archives of the Heartbroken and Spiritually Bereft (Moth Radio Hour, recorded December 12, 2012, Paramount Theater, Austin, Texas)
- Road Coma (Southern Magazine, July 1987)
- Bumfuzzled (Texas Co-op Power magazine, date unknown)
- Talkin’ Trash (Third Coast, August 1982)
- Knocking on Heaven’s Door (Third Coast, July 1983)
- The Furs Were Flying (Texas Monthly, May 2006)
- Step Lively (Texas Monthly, June 2006)
- Horn ‘em, Hookers (Texas Monthly, January 2007)
- Goodbye, Mrs. Chips (Texas Monthly, March 2007)
- Hog Wild (Texas Monthly, July 2007)
- Motherhood: Two Seconds after the Stick Turns Pink
- Mombo (Austin American-Statesman, May 9, 1993)
- Nurse Bird (Good Housekeeping, November 2009)
- Lactation Nation (Texas Monthly, August 2008)
- The Q Gene (New York Times Magazine, May 1, 1994)
- Going Private (Texas Monthly, October 2006)
- Pedal to My Mettle (Texas Monthly, August 2006)
- Tour de Farce (Texas Monthly, February 2007)
- Craigslust (Texas Monthly, December 2007)
- Ranch Blessing (Texas Monthly, August 2009)
- The Goodbye Boy (Texas Monthly, December 2008)
- Writing: Use It in Your Work
- For Keith (For AIDS Benefit “Queer Voices,” September 1998)
- Flash Back (The Alcalde, May/June 2011)
- Shrines to a Common Good (Speech to the Texas Library Association, July 2017)
- Passion Victim (Texas Monthly, May 2005)
- Read ‘em and Weep (Texas Monthly, October 2005)
- Say Cheesy (Texas Monthly, January 2006)
- Meat, My Maker (Texas Monthly, July 2012)
- The Big Sleep (Texas Monthly, October 2013)
- Paisano (Texas Highways, November 2018)
- Acknowledgments
Pastures of the Empty Page
Fellow Writers on the Life and Legacy of Larry McMurtry
Edited by George Getschow
