Book Reviews | Chapter 16

Miscarriage of Justice

Damien Echols chronicles his eighteen years on death row, serving time for murders he did not commit

By Sarah Norris | September 18, 2012

September 18, 2012 In 1993, the bodies of three eight-year-old boys were found mutilated in the woods outside West Memphis, Arkansas, and Damien Echols was convicted, with two other teenage boys, of their murder. Eighteen years later, DNA evidence and the activism of many people who believed in his innocence finally set Echols free from Death Row. He will discuss Life After Death, a memoir about his ordeal, at Nashville’s Southern Festival of Books on October 14 at 1 p.m. in the War Memorial Auditorium. All festival events are free and open to the public.

“I Shall Never Have a Friend Like Her”

With a superbly edited collection of letters, Irene Goldman-Price offers fresh insight into the life of novelist Edith Wharton

By Maria Browning | September 12, 2012

September 12, 2012 In 1873, when Edith Wharton was eleven years old, her parents hired a young governess named Anna Bahlmann. The two developed a close relationship that lasted until Bahlmann’s death forty-two years later. In My Dear Governess: The Letters of Edith Wharton to Anna Bahlmann, Irene Goldman-Price traces the disparate but intertwined lives of the two women through their correspondence, offering a new picture of Wharton’s early years. Goldman-Price will join novelist Jennie Fields, author of The Age of Desire, for “A Talk on Edith Wharton” on September 20 at 6:15 p.m. at the Nashville Public Library, as part of the Salon@615 series. The event is free and open to the public.

Before, When We Were Young

The past is a nightmare in Peter Heller’s terrifying, funny, heart-breaking, and suspenseful debut novel

By Tina LoTufo | September 11, 2012

September 11, 2012 Imagine a decent, ordinary, hard-working guy who just wants to be a good husband and hang out with his dog and go trout fishing once in a while. Then imagine that guy in his 1956 Cessna 182 airplane, flying over the brutal, lawless rubble of civilization’s end. Where would he go? How would he survive? What would he become? That’s the premise of award-winning adventure writer Peter Heller’s wonderful debut novel, The Dog Stars. Heller will discuss the book at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Hopeless Dreamers

Jack Hitt goes in search of the defining American trait, and finds himself amid a bunch of adorable amateurs

By Susannah Felts | September 7, 2012

September 7, 2012 There’s something heady about watching a pro wrangle with the definition of American identity. Almost as much as we love to reinvent ourselves, we love to reinvent the definition of ourselves, to give that narrative a fresh coat of paint. In Bunch of Amateurs: A Search for the American Character, Jack Hitt puts himself to this uber-American task, making a lively and ultimately convincing argument about amateurism as a mainstay of American identity. Hitt will discuss Bunch of Amateurs at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Life is Beautiful

In Beautiful Ruins, a Möbius strip of a novel, Jess Walter’s dual narratives converge with affecting, often hilarious results

By Sarah Norris | September 4, 2012

September 4, 2012 Jess Walter has packed his wondrously strange seventh novel to the breaking point. Its dual narratives alternate between the destructive, self-serving pursuits of a present-day Hollywood producer and the personal, romantic quest of an Italian man searching for his long-lost love—until the two stories converge. The plot itself is remarkable, not least of all because it’s comprised of so many threads, but the most impressive aspects of Beautiful Ruins are its surprising humor, emotional depth, and exquisite writing.Jess Walter will discuss Beautiful Ruins at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

How Things Work in Memphis

Memphis and its politics provide the setting for Blake Fontenay’s spoofy thriller

By Ralph Bowden | August 31, 2012

August 31, 2012 Mayor Pete Pigg has a grand design to make Memphis the home of The World Barbecue Hall of Fame. Who could complain about new construction jobs, a tourist boom, and lots of money to spread around? The bigger question: who gets the money? After ten years as a reporter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Blake Fontenay (now a resident of Old Hickory, Tennessee) has a pretty good idea of where it will go. He knows Memphis politics and uses its rich tradition of absurdity and sleaze as the backdrop for his first novel, The Politics of Barbecue. It’s all here: deal-making and threats, hidden agendas, chases and violence, beautiful women, intrigue of all sorts—everything a fancier of slightly-less-than-serious thrillers could want. Fontenay will discuss the novel at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 9 at 2 p.m., at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on September 18 at 6 p.m., and at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past

By Tore C. Olsson
St. Martin's Press
288 pages
$30

“I recommend Red Dead’s History unreservedly not only to fans of the iconic video game, but also to anyone who wants to understand the riotousness — from Wild West gunslingers to Jim Crow to lynching — that darkened our past, and which continues to influence our culture. Olsson’s prose is graceful, his analysis profound. This is history at its most accessible and exciting.”

~Peter Cozzens, award-winning author of A Brutal Reckoning