The Steve Harrigan Big Wonderful Book Group presented by Texas Book Festival

Texas Book Festival and author Steve Harrigan are offering an exclusive opportunity to TBF supporters to join a special virtual book group that will read and discuss Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas with Harrigan himself. Conducted in Zoom, the group will meet four times to cover the book, universally praised as an epic, must-read, tour de force. As the Wall Street Journal attests, Big Wonderful Thing is “brimming with sass, intelligence, trenchant analysis, literary acumen and juicy details . . . a page-turner that can be read straight through or at random. It is big. It is popular history at its best” –  just one of the many glowing reviews the book has received since it was published last year.

Lois Kim, Texas Book Festival’s Executive Director, will serve as moderator for the group, but this will not be a formal or stuffy lecture-based format. We envision an extremely informal but in-depth, fun but focused, light and lively fellowship of passionate readers who would love the opportunity to talk with Steve about researching and writing the memorable stories and histories in Big Wonderful Thing. Members will learn about Steve’s behind-the-scenes reporting, ways he tackled the writing of various chapters and histories, and share with one another and with Steve the stories that compelled and moved them the most.

A donation of $500 per person is required to join, and the group will be limited to no more than 30 participants to ensure an intimate, deeply connecting experience not to be found elsewhere during these times. Click on the “Register” button below to reserve your spot!

Steve Harrigan Big Wonderful Book Group Meeting and Reading Schedule

All meetings will take place on Tuesday evenings, from 7 – 8 pm Central Standard Time. There will be two weeks between meetings to allow for reading time.

Meeting and Reading Schedule

• Meeting #1: Tuesday, September 15 

  • Part One: They Came from the Sky and Part Two: The Ripe Peach

• Meeting #2: Tuesday, September 29 

  • Part Three: The People Want Excitement

• Meeting #3: Tuesday, October 13

  • Part Four: While Old Rip Slept and Part Five through Chapter 42

• Meeting #4: Tuesday, October 27

  • Part V: Chapter 43, The Empire of Texas through Epilogue