As the Story Goes
Kathi Appelt will appear at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books to discuss her new novel for young readers, Once Upon a Camel, the tale of a storytelling camel and the two baby kestrels she protects.
Q & A
Always Graceful
Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South collects 60 of Margaret Renkl’s essays for The New York Times. Her fascinating explanations of the natural world are the standouts, but she also weighs in with authority on politics and culture. Renkl will discuss the book at a free ticketed event held in Harpeth Hall’s Frances Bond Davis Theater in Nashville on September 14, at a virtual event hosted by Novel in Memphis on September 16, and at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
Hoop Dreams — and Nightmares
In Memphis Hoops, Keith B. Wood examines how basketball promoted racial unity in Memphis, while also reflecting the city’s persistent prejudices. It centers around Larry Finch, a local legend as both player and coach.
Politics for Christians
Former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam does a deep dive into the two subjects not fit for polite conversation in Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square. Haslam, also the former mayor of Knoxville, outlines a way of approaching the role of religious faith in the hardball arena of politics. He will appear at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
Spanks for the Memories
In Sadomasochism and the BDSM Community in the United States, University of Memphis historian Stephen K. Stein explains how a sexual community organized itself and found wider acceptance.
The Comedy of Empathy
From the Chapter 16 archive: “Doubt is essential to the writing life,” Andrew Sean Greer says. “If you only had arrogance, you’d write a book that’s all ego.”
