December 1984 Issue
Features
The Great Texas Alligator Hunt
They told me alligators don’t eat people. But when I found myself face to face with one in a dark East Texas swamp, I hoped they’d told him too.
Feature
So You Walk Into a Honky-Tonk and Some Three-Hundred-Pound Cowboy Says He Doesn’t Like Your Face. Now What?
Honky-tonks: how to get in, how to get out.
O Christmas Tree
For a perfectly decorated tree, call Tom Osborn. But only if money is no object.
Texas Primer: The Texas Brag
It’s not quite a lie and not quite the truth. It’s a patriotic duty.
Western Art
This story is from Texas Monthly’s archives. We have left the text as it was originally published to maintain a clear historical record. Read more here about our archive digitization project. From 1983 to 1986, Texas Monthly’s regular feature, “Western Art,” highlighted artists’ takes on the classic
The State
Fishing With Dad
I took my son fishing because I wanted him to love the sport—and me.
Columns
Trivial Texas
Three Texas Trivia games separate Lone Star zealots from ordinary believers.
Beyond Kitsch
Frederick Barthelme’s first novel, Second Marriage, is a wondrous tale of love and absurdity set in the Gulf Coast suburbs.
Crime
Peddling Paranoia
Selling crime self-help devices has become a booming business. But do any of these gadgets really make us safer?
Movies
Double Trouble
Body Double settles for facile thrills; Comfort and Joy offers moments of magical bliss; The Little Drummer Girl is off-pitch.
Software
Scrolling Through the Bible
The Word Processor reveals the wisdom of the Good Book with a few keystrokes.
Has Success Spoiled Snook?
After winning seven straight state basketball championships, the Snook Bluejays are learning that success has a flip side.
Reporter
Reporter
Texas Monthly Reporter
Kung’s underground hideaway; Dallas’ Cadillac wars; the Panhandle’s art terrorists; Houston’s poet-laureate; Austin’s airport quandary.
Miscellany
State Secrets
State Secrets
A new law takes the driving out of DWI; a new battle brews on the Texas Supreme Court; Exxon gets rid of an old burden; so does Clinton Manges.
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