Mostly True: The Story of Bozo Texino
by Bill Daniel
It's possible Bill Daniel is the most inspiring filmmaker of our day. With an impressive filmography that includes work on Craig Baldwin's Sonic Outlaws and as Vanessa Renwick's long-time collaborator, Daniel has crafted a remarkable book to go with his twenty-years-in-the-making Who Is Bozo Texino? - a documentary about modern day hoboes, rail workers and a forgotten outsider subculture. It's a rollicking rail zine of boxcar graffiti and obscure railroad nostalgia - the result of a 25 year obsession with hobo and railworker folklore. Freight riding stories, interviews with hoboes and boxcar artists, historical oddities and tons of photos of modern day boxcar tags are all presented in the guise of a vintage rail fanzine.
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HOT DAMN!
Mostly True: The West’s Most Popular Hobo Graffiti Magazine lives up to it’s title, each page is full of interesting stories, interviews, art and photography. Though the book itself is perfect bound (a type of binding technic for books), it reads more like a magazine or zine that may have originally been sold in separate editions. Whether or not it is the case Bill Daniel is expert at keeping the flow of the book fresh and exciting from cover to cover.
"this is totally worth a read"
"Out of all the books I’m reading this is mostly the best one. Mostly because it’s Hobo zine. It’s got the spunk & spirit of a fanzine but theses Hobo tales take to the rails in the form of a book, nice and fancy like. It’s no punk zine of crummy stapled together zeroxes, this here bound paper has the air of Hobo pride. You could rightly say that this train book is perfect bound. Now some people might right about now be jumping to conclusions about Hoboes. I’ll tell you right here and now that it ain’t no Homo typo. And it ain’t a bum askin’ for a hand out. If that’s what you thought than you can just ferget it. Hoboes are well traveled adventurous folk. They know how to tell a tale, mostly cause they seen it with they’re own eyes . The funky dudes who ride for free… freedom riders on the freights, from They just hop on a freight and ride from here to there with the wind in their hair. And by hair I mean scragely beards because they’re most likely wearing some kind of dirty hat. Hobo hats can get pretty dirty when they’re takin’ a nap in them there boxcars. Napping may sound like some sort of bum activity, but don’t get it twisted, Hoboes are a hard workin’ folk. ‘Bos are well traveled and many are accomplished artists. Many thousands, and by thousands I mean millions of Hobo drawings & monikers can be seen across the country, back and forth, from coast to coast. The well known arteest and man of mystery Bozo Texino was the subject of Bill Daniel’s critically acclaimed documentary & you could say that this here book is the compendium to that fine flick… “Who is Bozo Texino?” Buy this book and you might just find yourself some answers. You also might find that Mostly True is treasure trove of Hobo graffitti, a true and livin’ geniuine American art form."
"In this companion book to the film Who Is Bozo Texino? (shot entirely aboard speeding freight trains), Daniel mixes experimental and documentary to provide a captivating look at a little-known art form - hobo boxcar graffiti. Tracing the origins to boxcar graffiti from over 100 years ago, Daniel follows rail graffitis' evolution to modern day hobo gatherings, freight hopping trips and secret hobo jungles. Along the way Daniel interviews numerous old timers who have spent years on the rails drawing their monikers, among them graffiti legends Colossus of Roads, The Rambler, Herby (RIP) and yes even the ever-illusive Bozo Texino. The interviews provide a fascinating glimpse into the harsh realities of tramp life."