News & Notes

March 31, 2014 When Amy Greene saw the cover design for Long Man, her new novel, her first thought was “My publisher takes me seriously as a writer.” And it’s true: this novel, unlike Bloodroot Greene’s critically acclaimed and New York Times-bestselling first novel, is not illustrated with a delicate watercolor image of a beautiful woman in a romantic dress. It’s illustrated with bold lines, block colors, imposing type—a designer’s signifier of literary heft and consequence.

March 28, 2014 Coming soon to a theater near you: Ruta Sepetys’s bestselling (and acclaimed) YA novel, Between Shades of Gray and R.A. Dickey’s bestselling (and acclaimed) baseball memoir, Wherever I Wind Up.

March 13, 2014 Crossville native—and sometime Chapter 16 contributor—Michael Sims has had an enviably diverse career, following his own interests to subjects that include science, children’s authors, Victorian detective stories, and now Henry David Thoreau. Sims’ portrait of Thoreau reveals a young man fully engaged with the world, quirky and playful, and nothing like the hermit history has constructed.

February 20, 2014 Novelist Tova Mirvis grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family in Memphis. As expected, she became engaged at twenty-two to an Orthodox Jewish man she met on a blind date. As expected, she followed the laws and expectations of her community, even as she wondered, “Is this all true?”