{"product_id":"alex-sweets-texas-alexaner-edwin-sweet-9780292703902","title":"Alex Sweet's Texas: The Lighter Side of Lone Star History","description":"\u003cp\u003e Alexander Edwin Sweet (1841-1901) is Texas's own \"Sifter,\" whose humorous columns appeared in the \u003ci\u003eGalveston Daily News\u003c\/i\u003e in the late 1870s and early 1880s. In his wickedly funny, tongue-in-cheek sketches, readers learned of an astonishing variety of frontier phenomena, some familiar, others downright odd. For example, there was the typical nineteenth-century custom of New Year's Day receptions for bachelor guests only, with refreshments consisting largely of strong drink and equally strong fruitcake. Imbibing a bit more cheer at each stop, according to Sweet, the bachelors brought the last prospective sweethearts they visited New Year's greetings as incoherent as they were heartfelt. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e At times Sweet parodied the Yankee image of the typical Texan, whom he described as \"half alligator, half human,\" eating raw buffalo and toting an arsenal of weaponry like a \"perambulating gun-rack.\" But he also did as much as any writer to establish and enlarge upon the national image of Texas and Texans. Even the irascible red ant and the other \"critters\" in Sweet's column were Texas \u003ci\u003ebig\u003c\/i\u003e and Texas-\u003ci\u003efabulous\u003c\/i\u003e! \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In 1881 Sweet co-founded \u003ci\u003eTexas Siftings\u003c\/i\u003e, a humor magazine that moved from Austin to New York to become one of the most popular periodicals of its kind in the United States. From \u003ci\u003eTexas Siftings\u003c\/i\u003e, from Sweet's two published books (one called by John Jenkins in \u003ci\u003eBasic Texas Books\u003c\/i\u003e the \"best volume of 19th century Texas humor\"), and from many never-before-collected newspaper columns, editor Virginia Eisenhour has assembled an Alex Sweet sampler that presents the very best of the timeless humorist's work. The result--\u003ci\u003eAlex Sweet's Texas\u003c\/i\u003e--clearly demonstrates why the \u003ci\u003eNew York Journal\u003c\/i\u003e pronounced Sweet \"second to no living writer in freshness, originality, sparkling wit, and refined humor.\" A century later, that wit still sparkles and is guaranteed to delight Texans present as it once did Texans past. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Alexaner Edwin Sweet\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0292703902\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780292703902\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Texas Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/01\/1986\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.52d","brand":"Alexaner Edwin Sweet","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47757355811071,"sku":"9780292703902","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_36900c85-6ef6-4f28-acb7-c06c145fe3e6.jpg?v=1765510200","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/alex-sweets-texas-alexaner-edwin-sweet-9780292703902","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}