Book Reviews | Chapter 16

Dirty Boys

Adam Prince explores the male psyche in his haunting collection, The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men

By Michael Ray Taylor | May 18, 2012

May 18, 2012 With his debut story collection, The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men, Knoxville resident Adam Prince joins ranks with Norman Mailer, Harry Crews, George Singleton, and other writers who explore the darker side of American maleness. Prince and his wife, Charlotte Pence, will read from their new books on May 19 at Union Avenue Books in Knoxville. The event begins at 2 p.m.

Astronomical Adventure

Andrea Wulf captures the danger and daring of an eighteenth-century scientific quest

By Michael Ray Taylor | May 17, 2012

May 17, 2012 In a book that is part scientific history (in the mode of Holly Tucker’s Blood Work) and part international quest (a la National Treasure or The DaVinci Code), Andrea Wulf circumnavigates the globe with a story of Enlightenment-era derring-do. Wulf will read from and discuss Chasing Venus at the Nashville Public Library on May 24, as part of the Salon@615 series. The event will begin with a reception at 6:15 p.m., followed by a reading at 6:45. Both are free and open to the public.

The Music of Suffering

In The Cove, acclaimed novelist Ron Rash returns to the mountains of Western North Carolina to deliver a haunting story of doomed love in the shadow of World War I

By Ed Tarkington | May 10, 2012

May 10, 2012 “If you haven’t already found a woman who will break your heart, find one,” writes Ron Rash in his new novel. “The suffering will be good for you.” A spare, lyrical novel, The Cove juxtaposes the legendarily haunted and severe environs of the Blue Ridge Mountains with the simmering anxiety of the Great War. Rash will read from and discuss The Cove at Nashville Public Library on May 16, as part of the Salon@615 series . The event will begin with a reception at 6:15 p.m., followed by a reading at 6:45. Both are free and open to the public.

Hit City

In a new memoir, Loretta Lynn recalls her own life through the lyrics of her songs

By Charlotte Pence | May 9, 2012

May 9, 2012 Loretta Lynn’s rise to fame epitomizes the quintessential American dream, but with a uniquely Appalachian slant. A coal miner’s daughter who was, as her number-one hit explains, “born in a cabin on a hill in Butcher Hollow,” Lynn married at thirteen and had four children by eighteen. Despite this far-from-glamorous beginning, she has recorded sixteen number-one hits and sent seventy songs up the country charts. And at age seventy-seven, she continues to write and record crafted, heartfelt songs. It’s only fitting that Loretta Lynn’s newest memoir tells the story of her life through the medium that made her famous: her songs. In Honky Tonk Girl: My Life in Lyrics, Lynn collects 300 of her lyrics, glossing many of them with anecdotes that explain their genesis. Loretta Lynn will appear at the Ryman Auditorium on May 10 at as part of Opry Country Classics.

The Agricultural Agent’s Daughter

In a new memoir, Sissy Spacek idealizes her small-town, Southern roots and love of simple pleasures

By Liz Garrigan | May 8, 2012

May 8, 2012 Sissy Spacek may be a Hollywood legend—she’s best known for her Academy Award-winning portrayal of Loretta Lynn in the 1980 film Coal Miner’s Daughter—but her stories are refreshingly devoid of unwanted pregnancies, drug and alcohol addiction, marital abuse, family dysfunction, or devastating divorce. Spacek’s new memoir contains no shocking bombshells, no reprisals, not even the faintest hint of relationship retaliation. The book is quite simply the account of a charmed and happy life, of family love and loyalty, of cherished children and pets, of gardens watered in pajamas. On May 13, as part of the Salon@615 series, Spacek will discuss My Extraordinary Ordinary Life at the Nashville Public Library at 3 p.m.

How Much Pain Should One Person Endure?

Nashvillian J.T. Ellison begins a new suspense series

By Faye Jones | May 7, 2012

May 7, 2012 Nashville medical examiner Samantha Owens lost her husband and children in the 2010 flood. Since then, she has managed to survive by keeping her world small and by containing her grief in a series of compulsive behaviors. But that control is shattered when she’s asked to come to Washington DC to do a second autopsy on the body of a former boyfriend. So begins A Deeper Darkness, the first book in a new suspense series by J.T. Ellison, author of the popular Taylor Jackson mysteries. J.T. Ellison will discuss A Deeper Darkness on May 12 at Mysteries & More in Nashville at 2 p.m.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker