Recent Studies Indicate

“These essays are a pleasure; Bird makes her readers feel smart, urbane, and in on the joke, and that their own stories are worth sharing too.” —Publishers Weekly

When Sarah Bird arrived in Austin in 1973 in pursuit of a boyfriend who was “hotter than lava,” she found an abundance of storytelling inspiration (for example, her sweetheart left her for Scientology, but she got to taste a morsel of Lynda Bird Johnson’s poorly preserved wedding cake as a temp worker at the LBJ Library). She went on to write ten acclaimed novels and hundreds of articles, developing a signature voice that combines laser-sharp insight with irreverent, wickedly funny prose in the tradition of Molly Ivins and Nora Ephron.

Now collecting forty of Bird’s best nonfiction pieces, from publications that range from Texas Monthly to the New York Times and beyond, Recent Studies Indicate presents some of her earliest work, including a prescient 1976 profile of a transgender woman, along with recent calls to political action, such as her 2017 speech at a benefit for Annie’s List.

Whether Bird is hanging out with socialites and sanitation workers or paying homage to her army-nurse mom, her collection brings a poignant perspective to the experience of being a woman, a feminist, a mother, and a Texan—and a teller of spectacular true stories.

“Delightful . . . You can open the book to just about any story and enjoy a few minutes of good reading and, more likely than not, a hearty laugh.” ―Abilene Reporter-News

“Lively, honest . . . More timely than ever.” —Cecile Richards