August 5, 2014 The best books for young readers are as controversial and thought-provoking as anything written for their parents. Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature by Betsy Bird, Julie Danielson, and Peter D. Sieruta casts a revealing light on children’s books and their creators. Danielson will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on August 7, 2014, at 6:30 p.m., and at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014.
August 4, 2014 With In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, Memphis native Hampton Sides, known for his suspenseful historical writing, records a heroic three-year struggle for survival by the crew of a nineteenth-century polar expedition. Sides will appear at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on August 8, 2014, at 7 p.m., and also at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville on August 12, 2014, at 6:15 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
July 31, 2014 Lee Smith’s literary gifts make her distinctly qualified to take on the treacherous task of reimagining the last days of Zelda Fitzgerald, the muse behind The Great Gatsby, whose tragic life and more tragic end have haunted readers for generations. Smith will appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014. All festival events are free and open to the public.
July 29, 2014 In Amy Greene’s richly told second novel, the year is 1936, and the fictional Tennessee town of Yuneetah has been doomed by a TVA dam project. Long Man is the story of a crisis among the community’s last holdouts, and it brings a lost world to life. Greene will appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014. All festival events are free and open to the public.
July 28, 2014 Clay Risen, a frequent Chapter16 contributor, returns to the historic struggle for civil rights in The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act, a penetrating account of the heroic effort to pass the landmark 1964 legislation. He will appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014. All festival events are free and open to the public.
July 24, 2014 John Pritchard’s Sailing to Alluvium may be one of the most profane novels ever published, but it’s a distinctly Southern profanity, delivering surprisingly sophisticated social commentary. It is also a real hoot. John Pritchard will appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014. All festival events are free and open to the public.
