Book Reviews | Chapter 16

Prophets of Doom

In Christopher Hebert’s Angels of Detroit, young idealists believe they must destroy the city to save it

By Sean Kinch | July 7, 2016

AngelsOfDetroitjkt (1) Christopher Hebert’s new novel, Angels of Detroit, features a cast of characters who believe that the apocalypse is coming, and humanity is too narcotized or distracted to pay attention. Hebert will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on July 17, 2016, at 2 p.m. and at the John C. Hodges Library at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on August 29, 2016, at 7 p.m.

Hurricanes, Despair, and Hope

In John Gregory Brown’s latest novel, Katrina isn’t what ruins a New Orleans man’s life

By Faye Jones | July 6, 2016

July 6, 2016 Even before Hurricane Katrina, Henry Garrett was a mess. Now, stranded in Virginia, he must choose whether to give in to his demons or face his own challenges. John Gregory Brown will discuss A Thousand Miles from Nowhere at Parnassus Books in Nashville on July 14, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.

Yes, Please

Robert G. Netherland serves up a generous helping of Appalachian farm cooking

By Susannah Felts | June 30, 2016

June 30, 2016 In his memoir and cookbook, Southern Appalachian Farm Cooking, native East Tennessean Robert G. Netherland reveals the textures and tastes of a bygone time and place, one where White Lily flour reigned supreme, butter was churned, tobacco crops provided extra cash for Christmas presents, and beans and cornbread were the basis of daily meals.

Stories, Not Textbooks

In his latest poems, Bobby C. Rogers celebrates small-town America

By Erica Wright | June 29, 2016

June 29, 2016 In his new poetry collection, Social History, Bobby C. Rogers celebrates the spirit that makes small towns in America so unique.

Of Monsters and Men

Victoria Schwab probes what it means to be human in her new YA novel, This Savage Song

By Lyda Phillips | June 28, 2016

June 28, 2016 Victoria Schwab’s young-adult dystopian novel, This Savage Song, pits darkness against darkness in a battle between monsters and humans. Schwab will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on July 5, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.

Good Dog

With Smoky Jack, a lost classic of nature writing is finally published after ninety years

By Michael Ray Taylor | June 27, 2016

June 27, 2016 In the summer of 1925, a young man from Knoxville named Paul Adams established the first permanent camp atop Mt. Le Conte in what would eventually become Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Smoky Jack, written by Adams from his journals, has now been edited and published for the first time. Knoxville editors Ken Wise and Anne Bridges will discuss and sign copies of Smoky Jack at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on July 10, 2016, at 2 p.m.

The Rise and Fall of Treason in English History

By Allen Boyer and Mark Nicholls
Routledge
340 pages
$180

The book “explores the reasons why treason coalesced around specific offences agreed by both the monarch and the wider political nation, why it became an essential instrument of enforcement in high politics, and why, over the past three hundred years, it has gradually fallen into disuse while remaining on the statute book.”

~the publisher