The Novel of Her Life
October 30, 2013 Ann Patchett energetically resists all efforts to identify autobiographical elements in her fiction, but she has never been averse to personal writing in general: in fact, as she explains in her new book, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, she got her start as a writer by publishing essays and features for national magazines. Prior to her reading on November 4, 2013, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville , Patchett spoke with Chapter 16 about how opening a bookstore gave her the courage to publish this book. The event, part of the Salon@615 series, is free and open to the public.
October 24, 2013 Bestselling memoirist Elizabeth Gilbert will discuss her first novel in thirteen years, The Signature of All Things, as part of the Salon@615 series at the Nashville Public Library on November 1, 2013, at 6:15 p.m. She will also appear at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville on November 2, 2013, at 7 p.m. The Nashville event is free. Tickets for the Knoxville event are $35 and include a copy of the novel.
October 17, 2013 The new book by Chapter 16’s own Clay Risen, American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye, covers the history of American whiskey and investigates current practices in the industry. It also offers profiles, ratings, and tasting notes for over 200 whiskeys. Risen will launch the book at a 
October 10, 2013 In Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Cahalan recounts her battle against a rare neurological disorder that threatened her life and her very identity. Having no memory of this period, Cahalan used her skills as a journalist to recreate the effects the disease had on her and her loved ones.
October 9, 2013 Nonfiction author Bill Bryson may be best known for his witty travel writing, but he also has a gift for converting large swaths of history into readable narratives. His new book, One Summer: America, 1927, covers a small swath of history, but with novelistic grace and style. He recently talked with Chapter 16 prior to his appearance at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013. All festival events are free and open to the public.
October 8, 2013 Hattie Shepherd, the woman at the center of Ayana Mathis’s debut novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie—made famous as the first selection of Oprah’s Book Club 2.0—has survived the Jim Crow South, a decades-long struggle with poverty, and life as the mother of eleven children. Today Mathis talks with Chapter 16 about Hattie’s complicated character. Mathis will appear at the twenty-fifth annual 
