The Essential J. Frank Dobie ed. by Steven L. Davis

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Essential J. Frank Dobie ed. by Steven L. Davis William Jensen Steven L. Davis, ed., The Essential J. Frank Dobie. College Station: Texas A&M UP, 2019. 320 pp. Hardcover, $28. The folklorist J. Frank Dobie holds a strange spot in the American canon. Popular and influential while alive, he has become something of an invisible giant within the literary community since his death in 1964. Though many of his books are now out of print, his writings loom over contemporary letters. Without Dobie there is no Larry McMurtry, there is no Cormac McCarthy. Without Dobie there would be no James Wade, Philipp Meyer, or Rick Bass. Though criticized for his negative depictions of Mexican Americans while simultaneously glorifying the violence of cowboys and the Texas Rangers, Dobie remains the grandfather of Southwestern literature. Now Steven L. Davis has taken on the herculean task of making a portable J. Frank Dobie reader. I should mention that Davis is the curator of the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University where I teach; we’ve met. If anyone was going to make an anthology of Dobie, it should be Davis, who literally wrote the book about Dobie. His biography, J. Frank Dobie: A Liberated Mind, a gem of literary biography, came out in 2009. The anthology’s selections range from Dobie’s most popular works to previously unpublished pieces. A large variety of sections have never appeared in book form. This book is not simply a “Greatest Hits” but a coalescence of a man, his ideas, and his passions. Broken into nine sections, Davis has compiled Dobie’s folklore, journalism, and even some of his personal letters into an impressive compilation. Some chapters are obvious choices, such as “Stompedes” from The Longhorns and “The Buried Gold at Fort Ramirez” from Coronado’s Children: Tales of Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the Southwest. Of course not every famous story is included. Other beloved chapters from Tales of Old-Time Texas and A Vaquero of the Brush Country are absent. Dobie’s body of work is too vast to include everything. What is fascinating is that Davis has not limited this anthology to just Texas and the Southwest; he includes a healthy serving of Dobie’s essays, correspondence, and reporting from Europe during the World Wars. Also included are speeches [End Page 85] and articles concerning politics and education, which might not excite some but are important for painting a portrait of a man who cared deeply about people, literature, and conservation. Dobie led an active life. He fought for the desegregation of the University of Texas, and he worked to save the Longhorn cattle breed from dying out. Big Bend National Park also owes Dobie a debt. This anthology shows all of the man’s passions and philosophies. Dobie may have been known as “Mr. Texas,” but he was obviously a humanitarian before he was a regionalist. Some aspects of this book may upset Dobie purists. Davis has taken it upon himself to make various edits, which range from deleting redundancies to rearranging entire paragraphs. Though highly erudite, Dobie’s voice was formed more around the campfire than the peer-reviewed journal. The role of the editor (any editor) is always a delicate act between strengthening the author’s voice and completely altering it, though occasionally a complete overhaul is necessary. Davis’s edits go unnoticed in the best way. Honestly, Dobie reads better now than ever. Though a national Dobie renaissance is unlikely, this anthology will help seal his stature not just as a man of letters but a man of ideas. Literature, like music, goes through various trends and styles, and while some artists are rediscovered, others are forgotten, rejected, or flat-out cancelled. The selections in this book create a strong argument to keep Dobie alive and well into the twenty-first century. This handsome anthology is highly recommended for college courses on western literature and American folklore, and it will most likely become the new standard of all of Dobie’s works. Steven L. Davis makes a solid argument for why J. Frank Dobie is indeed essential. [End Page 86] William Jensen Texas State University...