Book Reviews

Addison Armstrong’s debut novel, The Light of Luna Park, is a deft fusion of fiction and the facts about a startling moment in medical history, when a project to save premature infants became an amusement park sideshow.

With Oh William!, novelist Elizabeth Strout delivers a tour de force on the mysteries of what it means to be human. Strout will appear in conversation with Susan Orlean and Ann Patchett at a virtual event on October 20 as part of the Salon@615 series.

East Tennessee poet Jesse Graves’ Said-Songs, a collection of essays, reviews, and interviews, evokes the author’s rural childhood to engage with the poetry of Appalachia, roots music, and the varied meanings of place.

Bradley Sides dedicates his first book to “all the dreamers, young and old — those now and those becoming….” Whether or not you consider yourself a dreamer — or a fan of magical realism — you will likely find something to believe in reading Sides’ beautiful stories.

The four-legged and two-winged subjects in Susan Orlean’s essay collection On Animals include the wild and domestic, the friend and the servant. But really, it’s more about the people. She will be appearing at a virtual event with Elizabeth Strout and Ann Patchett in the Salon@615 series on October 20.

Just before turning 2, Allison Moorer’s son was diagnosed with autism, later revealed to be Level 3, the most severe degree of disability. In I Dream He Talks to Me: A Memoir of Learning How to Listen, Moorer shares her hopes and fears for her son and offers an honest look at their life together. She will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on October 15.