Houston: The Feast Years. An Illustrated Essay

The book reads like a love‑letter to a city that refuses to fit any single definition. It stitches together vivid essays, historic sketches, and modern photographs to show how Houston has been imagined by travelers, journalists, and its own residents since the nineteenth century. From early mis‑drawn maps that turned gentle riverbanks into hills, to post‑war headlines that crown it “the most exciting city of North America,” the narrative follows the shifting reputation of a place that is simultaneously familiar and wholly unique.

Beyond the anecdotes, the work explores the forces that have propelled Houston’s rise—oil, the ship channel, two world wars, and the dawning space age. The author weaves in the optimism of the 1960s, when NASA anchored its manned‑spacecraft center nearby, suggesting a new era of discovery. Woodcuts by Lowell Collins and a rich visual archive give readers a tactile sense of the city’s evolving skyline, its youthful vigor, and the paradoxical blend of ambition and playfulness that still defines it today.