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Also by Kinky Friedman:

What Would Kinky Do?, July 2008
Hardcover
You Can Lead a Politician to Water, But You Can't Make Him Think, October 2007
Hardcover
The Christmas Pig, November 2006
Hardcover
Texas Hold 'Em, June 2005
Hardcover

TEXAS HOLD 'EM
By: Kinky Friedman

How I Was Born in a Manger, Died in the Saddle, and Came Back as a Horny Toad

St. Martin's Press
June 2005
240 pages
ISBN: 0312331541
Hardcover
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Fiction

"Texas Hold ‘Em is more than just a card game. It deals...with that fine, forgotten art of playing a poor hand well...Texas Hold ‘Em is a state of mind, a spiritual survival technique, a way of holding on to things that might just be important in this ever-changing world." --from the introduction to Texas Hold ‘Em

The irrepressible, future Governor of Texas is back with a crusade to stop the wussification of the Lone Star State. He never thought he'd see the day when he'd miss gun racks in the back windows of pickup trucks, but he almost does. He misses the days when cowboy shirts never had buttons and coffee with a friend was still a dime. Many of the stubborn, dusty, weather-beaten little towns, roads, trucks, jeeps, people and animals are gone now. Like it or not, the peaceful, scenic bucolic Hill Country of his childhood is being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century.

His is at his outrageous best as he gives Americans a look at the state made famous by the Alamo, the armadillo, Willie Nelson, and, well, Kinky Friedman. Texas Hold ‘Em is composed of provocative essays, including autobiographical pieces that are at times bittersweet and at other hilarious, profiles of such stellar Texans as his friend, Willie Nelson, as you've never seen him before, George W. Bush, and Racehorse Haynes, and a treasure trove of lists, quizzes , including:

If the Ten Commandments Were Written by a Texan
Tex My ride
Texas Firsts
What Kind of Texas Driver Are you?

As an added diversion, the book is decorated with cartoons by the brilliant John Callahan, particularly appealing to those whose lives are spiraling downward into tailspins of despair.

Texas Hold 'Em is the way in which the Kinkster plays the game of life. To him, Texas Hold' Em means holding on to what is dear to him, to the things that made him who he is, always remembering that the most important things in life aren't things. An old cowboy philosophy of life sums it up -- "hang on tight, spur hard, and let 'er buck."

Media Buzz

Late Show with David Letterman - November 3, 2006
Tonight Show with Jay Leno - January 25, 2006
60 Minutes - January 22, 2006