TEXAS BOUND IV: More Stories by Texas Writers

The Texas Bound series collects short stories by Texas authors; the audio versions pair the stories with Texas actors, who are recorded live at performances at the Dallas Museum of Art as part of the museum's literary series Arts and Letters Live. This latest collection runs the spectrum from humor (John Bloom's very funny "Pepper," read by Randy Moore, in which the author rants comically about waiters who hover over one's food with an enormous pepper mill) to sentiment (Jewel Mogan's poignant "Mrs. Bajon Says," read by Julie White, in which a woman seeks to learn more about her deceased grandmother and the death of a child long ago). The narrations are lively, and the appreciative audience response gives the proceedings added energy. Standout performers are Judith Ivey as a romantically challenged real estate agent in C.W. Smith's "The Bundlelays," Larry Hagman as a would-be Lothario in Jim Sanderson's "Ladies' Man" and John Feltch as a 20-something slacker who tries to prove his manliness on a camping trip, with hilarious results, in Ray Isle's "Wild Turkey." (May)