Richard Powers’ Bewilderment is a meditation on grief and the possibilities of radical empathy
In an early chapter of Bewilderment, Richard Powers’ heartbreaking and transcendent new novel, astrobiologist Theo Byrne charts the far reaches of the universe for all forms of life. But caring for his troubled young son, Robin, becomes a more dangerous and profound experiment, provoking questions about radical empathy and humankind’s survival.
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Wiley Cash’s fourth novel combines rich characters and compelling mystery
Wiley Cash’s When Ghosts Come Home is a timely novel that, while certainly dark, also asks us to believe in hope. Cash will discuss the novel at a virtual event hosted by Novel in Memphis on September 23 and at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
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Kristen Radtke’s Seek You considers our solitary era
Kristen Radtke’s Seek You explores the pain and pleasure of solitude in a time of isolation. Radtke will appear at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
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Brian Broome’s memoir rescues a childhood ended too soon
Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome is a Black, gay, coming-of-age memoir. Broome, a screenwriter and poet, recounts his formative years in Ohio and his subsequent escape. Against the backdrop of Ronald Reagan’s conservative America, the book presents scenes of Black boy initiation into the order of masculinity. Broome will appear at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
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In Robert Olen Butler’s Late City, America’s last surviving WWI soldier reports his life story to God
In Late City, Robert Olen Butler imagines a deathbed dialogue between God and a 115-year-old man who happens to be America’s last surviving veteran of World War I. Butler will discuss Late City at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
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A young dancer grapples with identity in The Archer
In Shruti Swamy’s novel The Archer, a young dancer named Vidya explores her identity as an artist and as a woman. She both conforms to and defies the traditional expectations of her gender and class, all while grappling with the desires of her body and mind and the raw ache of abandonment after the loss of her mother. Swamy will appear at a virtual session of the 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
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