Unknown Texas

This engrossing omnibus of essays and fiction about the Lone Star State will be savored by Texan and non-Texan alike. The book's opening selection, from the diary of a Spanish explorer, graphically describes the horrors of a 16th century shipwreck on what is now Galveston Island and subsequent rescue by Indians. History buffs will also enjoy excerpts from Davy Crockett's autobiography portraying the unfolding of the siege of the Alamo, as well as Sam Houston's 1861 speech foretelling the consequences of Texas joining the secessionists. In a lighter vein, Stephen Crane's ""The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky'' is a marvelously detailed story of a Wild West lawman's first day of marriage. ``Holiday'' by Katherine Ann Porter is a heartbreakingly beautiful tale set in a rural area near San Antonio settled by German Catholic immigrants. Other notable entries are ``A Glorious Fourth,'' by John Henry Faulk, about whites marauding the black section of a small town, Larry L. King's definitions of a ``redneck'' and ``good ol' boy'' in ``The American Redneck'' and humorist Jim Everhart's lesson in ``Speaking Texan.'' Included are memoirs by an offshore oil rig worker, as well as by such famous native sons as Dan Rather and Don Meredith. Eisen is coeditor of Unknown California and Straughn wrote The Five Divorces of a Healthy Marriage. (May)