A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

The Particular Art of Magical Realism

October 25, 2010 Aimee Bender, a modern fabulist and sharp prose stylist, sprinkles fairy-tale dust into contemporary settings and conflicts. The central conceit of her latest novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, is fetchingly simple and surreal: one day, a young girl names Rose Edelstein bites into a forkful of her mother’s lemon cake and finds she can “taste” her mother’s feelings. Bender recently spoke with Chapter 16 about the book, food as metaphor, and what compels her to write magical realism. She will discuss her work at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on October 28 at 7 p.m.

The Particular Art of Magical Realism

Cool with the Lines

October 21, 2010 Late, Late at Night, Rick Springfield’s tell-all memoir, opens with a seventeen-year-old Rick swinging from a noose, convinced his life is not worth living. Happily for Rick, as well as for the zillions of fans who would, in the 1980s, fall in love not only with his endlessly catchy parade of hit singles like “Jessie’s Girl,” but also with Dr. Noah Drake, the sexy character he played to perfection on the venerable soap opera General Hospital, the noose gave way just in time. Springfield talked with Chapter 16 prior to his Nashville and Murfreesboro appearances on October 22 and 23.

Cool with the Lines

Citizens of the World

October 15, 2010 Marge Piercy’s productivity and accomplishments are nothing short of astounding. She has published seventeen novels in genres as diverse as science fiction and historical fiction, including The New York Times bestseller, Gone to Soldiers. As if that weren’t enough, she has also published seventeen volumes of poetry and a memoir. She answered questions from Chapter 16 in advance of her public appearances in Knoxville on October 17 and 18.

Citizens of the World

Just What the Governor Ordered

October 12, 2010 Few American politicians are as well versed in the health-care debate as Tennessee Gov. Philip Bredesen. A former health-care executive, Bredesen came to office in 2002 promising to fix TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, which was driving the state deep into debt, and he has a lot to say about the landmark national health-care bill that passed this spring. In Fresh Medicine: How to Fix Reform and Build a Sustainable Health Care System, Bredesen provides a searing but non-partisan critique of the bill. Recently, Chapter 16 spoke with him about the book, which hits shelves today.

Just What the Governor Ordered

Puncturing the Myth of Recovered Memory

October 11, 2010 For eight years, Meredith Maran mistakenly believed her father had molested her when she was a child. Two decades later, still tormented by the damage her accusation caused her family, she embarked on a search to understand what really happened, and why. The result is My Lie: A True Story of False Memory. Maran answered questions from Chapter 16 in advance of her signing at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville on October 11 at 7 p.m.

Puncturing the Myth of Recovered Memory

A Prelinguistic Place

October 5, 2010 Molly Peacock is known as a writer of vibrant, sensual poetry and as a nonfiction writer with a particular gift for articulating the challenges faced by women artists. She shares some thoughts with Chapter 16 on her vocation as a poet, and on her latest book, which examines late-life creativity. She will read from and discuss her work at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on October 7 at 7 p.m.

A Prelinguistic Place

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