January 7, 2014 “The South began its move toward the modern Republican party in 1865,” writes Glenn Feldman in the opening sentence of his new book, The Irony of the Solid South: Democrats, Republicans, and Race, 1865-1944. Feldman, who earned a master’s degree in political science at Vanderbilt, spends the rest of the book backing up this surprising statement with overwhelming historical evidence.
December 2, 2013 In Rise of the Warrior Cop, Radley Balko argues that America’s police forces are growing increasingly dependent on military tools and training, even though most suspects are accused of non-violent crimes. “These policies,” he says, “have given us an increasingly paranoid, increasingly aggressive police force in America, and a public shielded from knowing the consequences of it all.”
November 20, 2013 With chapter headings like “If Your Friends and Family Start Acting Like Dramatic Weirdos” and “How to Eat All the Stuff You Aren’t Supposed To,” there’s no mistaking Tracy Moore’s Oops! How to Rock the Mother of All Surprises for a garden-variety pregnancy guide. Instead it’s an irreverent, hilarious look at modern breeding from the perspective of a work-hard-party-harder writer who had no plans to get pregnant—and then did.
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 whiskey-tasting event at Barista Parlor in East Nashville October 25, 2013, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35 and include a copy of the book. All proceeds will benefit Humanities Tennessee.
