BOOKING DALLAS

Until recently, Dallas had all but a few of the accoutrements of civilized life. The most notable exception was a serious literary book publisher. Now it has Press-works, which makes Dallas the home of a series of fine limited editions of fiction and poetry. Plans also have been laid for the publishing of paperback nonfiction to pay bills for the fledgling press.

Anne Dickson, who bought the former Lone Star Review, is realistic in her expectations. She hopes that within three years her publishing venture will begin to make money. Dickson has 12 books lined up for her house, including short works by such prominent writers as Robert Penn Warren, Donald Barthelme, Stanley Elkin and Joyce Carol Oates.

The first bull out of the chute belongs to Dallas historian and book critic A.C. Greene. The Fifty Best Books on Texas was published last month in a limited edition that sells for $120. (A paperback edition also will be available.) Green’s selections have already drawn the wrath of novelist Larry McMurytry, who chastised Greene for his book choices during a speech at the Fort Worth Art Museum, which later was printed in The Texas Observer. Before long, Bryan Woolley of the Times Herald, novelist Al Dewlen and Greene himself were up in arm.