His books include: "First Son: George W. Bush & The Bush Family Dynasty," (Times Books); "City on Fire: The Explosion That Devastated A Texas Town and Ignited A Historic Legal Battle," (HarperCollins); "The President's Counselor: The Rise To Power of Alberto Gonzales," (HarperCollins); co-author, “Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life” (PublicAffairs); “In Search of The Blues: A Writer’s Journey to the Soul of Black Texas” (University of Texas Press, scheduled for publication 2010). "City on Fire" is "one of the finest books ever written about Texas," according to The Texas Observer. Esquire magazine named it, along with works by Ernest Hemingway and others, among the greatest tales of survival ever written.

 

His Bush biography was called "excellent" by The New York Review of Books and The New Republic. His biography of Gonzales was called "fascinating" by The New York Times and "chilling" by the San Francisco Chronicle. The Washington Post said "City on Fire" was "a remarkable re-creation...a terrific nonfiction work that has the narrative force of an adventure novel." The Baltimore Sun compared his writing to that of Tom Wolfe. His biography of Bush has been published in China. "City On Fire" was optioned by actor Tom Cruise. Director Oliver Stone said Minutaglio’s work on President Bush was relied upon for Stone’s movie “W.”

 

Minutaglio’s work is in these anthologies: "Literary Austin," edited by Don Graham, the J. Frank Dobie Regents Professor of American & English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin; "Merchants of Misery: How Corporate America Profits From Poverty"; "November 22: The Day Remembered"; "The Day JFK Died"; "Echoes of Texas Football: The Greatest Stories Ever Told." He is co-author of "The Hidden City," about a community where Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald lived. He is co-author of "Locker Room Mojo," about the nature of superstition in sports.

 

Minutaglio’s work has appeared in: The New York Times, Esquire, Newsweek, Outside, The Los Angeles Times, Details, Texas Monthly, The Texas Observer, TALK, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Men’s Health, The Sporting News, Mexico Business, Scotland on Sunday and many other publications. He spent 18 years at The Dallas Morning News as a senior writer and columnist. He covered strife in Central America, Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and the Philippines. He traveled with the Sandinistas, reported on the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and filed stories about the end of the Marcos regime in Manila. He was a national correspondent for The Sporting News and TALK, where he worked for editor Tina Brown. He oversaw People’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina. He was a feature writer for The Houston Chronicle, the arts editor of The San Antonio Express-News and a police reporter and columnist for The Abilene Reporter-News.

 

He has written encyclopedia entries for Encarta and World Book on George W. Bush and others. He and Julian Bond were asked to write essays for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution commemorating the assassination of President Kennedy. He has been interviewed by Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Katie Couric, Dan Rather, Charlie Rose, Terry Gross and many others. He has been featured on The Today Show, Nightline, NPR's "Fresh Air," C-SPAN/Book TV and in several documentaries. Minutaglio’s work has been recognized by The National Association of Black Journalists, National Conference of Christians and Jews, University of Missouri, National Headliners, Texas Headliners, etc. His work is listed in three editions of the "Best American Sports Writing" annual anthologies.

 

Minutaglio created a Narrative Nonfiction Book Writing class for the Journalism school and oversees the school’s investigative journalism class. He has spoken at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, St. Edward's University, Concordia University, The Texas Book Festival, The Texas Library Association, etc. He has a B.A. from Columbia College and an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He also studied for a year at the Columbia University School of International Affairs, interned at the United Nations, and worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture monitoring free food programs in Harlem.