Book Reviews | Chapter 16

True Romance

By Paul V. Griffith

November 21, 2011

November 21, 2011 In her new novel, Kingsport native Lisa Alther uses as a plot device the racial and familial intermarriage that was once common in the Appalachians. Combining the factual relevance of a history book with the intrigue and passion of a romance novel, Washed in the Blood follows the descendants of Diego Martin, a sixteenth-century hog drover abandoned by a Spanish expeditionary party. As centuries pass––and Spanish, English, Portuguese, African, and Native American blood becomes increasingly intermingled––successive generations of Martins struggle with notions of identity and the fickle nature of love.

Ribbons of Light

By Ed Tarkington

November 15, 2011

November 15, 2011 Anthony Doerr’s theme is not subtle. His newest story collection, Memory Wall, opens with an epigraph: “Life without memory is no life at all.” The questions raised by the book—How can experience and emotion be preserved for the millions of anonymous, outwardly unremarkable souls who nevertheless strive to live meaningfully? Are we doomed to be erased? What makes memory, and where does it reside?—loom over this haunting and entrancing collection of tales. On November 17 at 7 p.m., Anthony Doerr will read from his work in Buttrick Hall on the Vanderbilt University campus in Nashville. The event is free and open to the public.

Adding On

By Chris Scott

November 9, 2011

November 9, 2011 In Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion, bestselling novelist and historian Robert Morgan tells the true stories of the men who added the territories from the Appalachians to the Pacific, thereby making a country out of a continent. Morgan will discuss Lions of the West at 7 p.m. on November 14 at the Hodges Library on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville.

A Master of Fact

By Michael Ray Taylor

November 8, 2011

November 8, 2011 John McPhee is known for taking obscure topics and making them fascinating. As McPhee heads to Tennessee this week to accept the eighth annual Nashville Public Library Literary Award, Chapter 16’s Michael Ray Taylor considers the legendary author’s influence on the craft of creative nonfiction. McPhee will give a free public reading at the Nashville Public Library on November 12 at 10 a.m.

Mining the Past, Uncertain of the Future

By Susannah Felts

November 3, 2011

November 3, 2011 In much of his work—which spans two collections of poetry, essays, a play, collaborations with other artists and writers, and two memoirs—Nick Flynn has grappled with a tragic family history, and he bears his own deep scars, too: years of drug and alcohol use, a string of damaged relationships with women. But out of this well of grief, Flynn has pulled a well-received body of literature. His newest memoir, The Ticking is the Bomb, again mines this difficult past to critical acclaim. It is a survivor’s tale—the voice of a troubled mind still struggling to make sense of the wreckage, still doubtful of its own stability. Flynn will read from his work at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on November 10 at 7 p.m. in Furman Hall, Room 114. The event is free and open to the public.

"The New Tom Wolfe"

By Sarah Norris

November 2, 2011

November 2, 2011 NPR says John Jeremiah Sullivan is “the best magazine writer around.” Time magazine names him “the New Tom Wolfe.” The New York Times Book Review calls Sullivan’s new collection, Pulphead, “the sort of essay-world you just want to dwell inside.” Sullivan will read from and sign copies of Pulphead at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on November 5 at 1 p.m. He will also read in Nashville on November 19 at 1 p.m. at the Nashville Public Library as part of the Salon@615 series. Both events are free and open to the public.