October 15, 2014 Rumbling out of the South at the beginning of the 1970s, Southern rock was a mix of back-to-basics rock and roll, blues, country, and soul—wrapped in a new vision of the American Southland. Scott B. Bomar chronicles the history of this uniquely American music and its legacy in Southbound: An Illustrated History of Southern Rock. Bomar will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on October 20, 2014, at 6:30 p.m.
October 7, 2014 In Under Magnolia, Frances Mayes recalls her childhood in South Georgia, trying to survive in the overwrought atmosphere created by her high-strung, alcoholic parents. It is a moving account of the coming-of-age of a young woman destined to be a poet, teacher, and bestselling memoirist. Mayes will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 10-12, 2014.
October 6, 2013 In Jasper Fforde’s The Eye of Zoltar, mayhem and hilarity vie for center stage. Prior to his appearance at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 10-12, 2014, Fforde spoke with Chapter 16 about why writing for young adults isn’t so very different from writing for their parents.
October 3, 2014 On January 25, 1892, on a busy Memphis sidewalk, Alice Mitchell slit the throat of Freda Ward, a crime that made national headlines because Alice’s motive—jealousy in a homosexual relationship—was inconceivable to a nineteenth-century audience. Alexis Coe’s new book about the case, Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, is a window into how gender, class, and race shaped society of that day. Coe will appear at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on October 9, 2014, and again at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 10-12.
September 30, 2014 In twenty-three novels, two books of nonfiction, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning column for the Miami Herald, Carl Hiaasen has captured the weird side of Florida life—and crime—like no other writer. In Skink—No Surrender, his first YA novel, Hiassen pairs a beloved character from his adult books with a teen narrator. Hiassen will appear at the Nashville Public Library on October 6, 2014, at 6:15 p.m. The event, part of the Salon@615 series, is free and open to the public.
September 22, 2014 New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, have followed their worldwide bestseller, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women, with a sequel of sorts. A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity looks at innovative ways to make a difference in the world. Prior to his appearance at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 10-12, 2014, Kristof sat down with Chapter 16 to discuss poverty, opportunity, and what everyday donors can do to change another person’s life.
