Texas Book Festival: Merritt Tierce

I wrote a long piece about Merritt Tierce's Love Me Back a few weeks ago. I think it's one of the most important novels to be published this year, and one that doesn't flinch from taboo subjects and representations. Love this book or hate it, this is a book that demands conversations. Why not have those conversations with the author herself? Merritt Tierce is smart, articulate, and sometimes hilarious in person. She's as ballsy as her prose and falls into the grand tradition of fierce Texas women. Need proof? Tierce, who like her novel character worked at a high end steakhouse in Dallas, twice waited on conservative drug addict nutjob asshat pundit Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh left her $2,000 tips, but being a staunch defender of women's and abortion rights, Tierce opted to launder Limbaugh's tips into the TEA Fund, an organization that helps cover the cost of abortions for those who can't afford them. Since this story was revealed, Tierce has received death threats and harassment from Limbaugh's cult supporters. Merritt Tierce is a bad ass.

Don't mess with
Texas women.

If you're a serious book lover, a fan of experimental fiction, an engager of difficult subjects, one who believes that all voices deserve to be heard, you are the people who should seek out Merritt Tierce at the Texas Book Festival and you should read Love Me Back. 

Merritt Tierce will be participating in the Autobiographical Fiction panel at Texas Book Festival on Saturday, October 25, at 3:15 pm, in Capitol Extension Room E1.026.