September 15, 2015 In Purity, Jonathan Franzen creates a distinctly fallen world: motives are always mixed, and altruistic intentions are corrupted by selfishness. Franzen will read from his ironically titled novel in Ingram Hall at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on September 23, 2015, at 6:15. p.m.
September 14, 2015 Thirteen-year-old Billie Sims, the heroine of Ronald Kidd’s middle-grade historical novel, Night on Fire, is just becoming aware of prejudice all around her. Then the Freedom Riders come to town. Ronald Kidd will discuss his most recent novel for young readers at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 9-11, 2015.
September 10, 2015 In the fall of 1962, James Meredith’s arrival at Ole Miss as its first African-American student sparked mob violence that left two people dead and scores injured. Riot: Witness to Anger and Change, a collection of photographs by Edwin E. Meek, documents the violence and the mood of the time that brought it about. Meek will appear at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on September 14, 2015, at 6:30 p.m.
September 8, 2015 At any given moment, the fate of the feisty young heroine of Lorraine Lopez’s new novel would seem to rise and fall at the mercy of whatever book she’s reading. Written with humor, The Darling provides a delightful glimpse into the ways a woman’s reading life can become inextricable from her desires and her choices. Lopez will discuss The Darling in Vanderbilt University’s Furman Hall Room 114 on September 10, 2015, at 7 p.m. and at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 9-11, 2015. Both events are free and open to the public.
September 4, 2015 Celebrated Southern poet and novelist Ron Rash returns with Above the Waterfall, a taut tale of mountain intrigue that combines Rash’s elegiac lyricism with his gift for fast-paced, suspenseful plotting and his rage at the continuing exploitation of Appalachia. Rash will discuss Above the Waterfall at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 9-11, 2015.
September 3, 2015 In his new memoir, The Wind in the Reeds: a Storm, a Play, and the City that Would Not Be Broken, New Orleans native Wendell Pierce retraces his path through the worlds of art, family, and social change. Known for his nuanced performances on The Wire and Treme, Pierce brings an actor’s empathy to this complex but ultimately hopeful account of New Orleans after Katrina. Pierce will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 9-11, 2015.
