How Austintatious!

The New York Times book review of travel writer Chuck Thompson’s Smile When You’re Lying revealed his contempt for both our fair city and the capital of Texas: “Austin (‘if it wasn’t surrounded by Texas it’d be called Sacramento’).”

Three days after the NYT article, the Austin American-Statesman whined: “Ooooo, that hurts. Sacramento? (But at least he didn’t make the cruelest comparison of all, likening Austin to Dallas.)”

We expect such pretentiousness from gold-digging travelogue scribes, who nary have time for hopeless locales lacking potential anecdotes of bribing armed guards or evading venomous water serpents. Have fun in Tanzania, buddy.

As for the American-Statesman editorial board: Upfront’s been to Austin—drank beers with Ain’t It Cool News’ Harry Knowles at the formerly downtown Alamo Drafthouse cinema, stuffed the ol’ gullet at the copious BBQ bars with requisite Earl Campbell Longhorn jersey décor, spit game at the famed sorority girls, saw bands at Emo’s, urinated in the alleyways off Sixth Street …

Wait—Austin took names! Forget Thompson, let’s channel some city funds into an art/film/DIY/indie-punk/NCAA football/microbrew/ Delta Delta Delta booster!