Just as We Were: A Narrow Slice of Texas Womanhood

By Prudence Mackintosh

Book Overview

When a Texas debutante bows her forehead to the floor in the famous "Texas dip," society columnists all across the country speculate interminably over what it is that sets Texas women apart. But really, how could they know? Even women born and bred in Texas can't always answer that question.

Prudence Mackintosh comes very close to an answer, though, in this endlessly entertaining book. Writing with both a wry sense of humor and an insider's compassion, she offers us a fascinating look into the world of privileged, educated, well-married, well-connected, and mostly wealthy white Texas women.

What really sets these women apart, Ms. Mackintosh tells us, is the comfortable yet demanding path they follow from their idyllic girlhoods to prominent positions in society. In thirteen essays, some of which originally appeared in Texas Monthly magazine, she charts the way stations that mark this path: summer camps in the Texas Hill Country, exclusive private schools like Dallas' Hockaday, sorority membership, and acceptance into the Junior League.

Prudence Mackintosh has been both an outsider and an insider in this privileged world, and her observations are shot through with wit and real insight. Just As We Were may not be the final word on elite Texas women, but no other book has described their world with greater irony or accuracy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0292737688
• ISBN13: 9780292737686
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Just as I Imagined

Picking up this book was a trip into my Texas past. A glimpse of a rariified style of life that I pined for as a girl growing up in Grand Prairie....I don't think we had a Junior League. "Just As We Were" actually proves again, that no matter the side of the tracks you came from, Texas women are a singular breed, smart, strong, and comitted.

I loved this book, it made me laugh and cry.

Prudence has an unofficial fan club in El Paso, Texas. It started with her first book, Thundering Sneakers, and when the second one came out, Retreads, we were all thrilled. Now, with this treasure, Just as We Were, well, it's just too much! Prudence writes with such wit and wisdom about the things many women do in their lives. I never realized how funny some of the stuff is that we do until I read about it from her view point. The Junior League stories are enough to make your sides split, I actually read parts of it at our own Junior League meeting one time! Don't get me wrong, you DO NOT have to be a member of the Junior League or anything else to enjoy this book. She writes about things from two sides and it is a great experience. Sad things, like aging parents and the painful parts of child rearing can be funny and ultimatly less painful from Prudence' perspective. I highly recommend this book!

Funny, yes, but like life, the essays are complex & poignant

Junior Leaguers finally have a voice!!! Prudence Mackintosh has captured a part Texas womanhood in a series of hilarious essays just published in book form. I laughed hard but wait, this is more than just personal and funny stories. Mackintosh acts like a social anthropologist, commenting upon all the things that make Texas women's lives unique.So if you want a delightful read and if you want to understand Texas (or Southern) women, read this book. Actually, if you want to understand women at all read this book because she really touches on issues like growing up, children, college, domestic help, and aging parents which are experiences most middle class women have had. Elizabeth Cauthorn (drewc@dcci.com)