Chapter 16 - Part 14

The Story That Takes Hold

Ishmael Beah writes lyrically in Radiance of Tomorrow about a village recovering from the horrors of war

By Michael Ray Taylor | September 18, 2014

September 18, 2014 In 2007, Ishmael Beah received widespread praise for his memoir, A Long Way Gone, a troubling account of his life as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. In his first novel, Radiance of Tomorrow, Beah lyrically explores a village much like his own as it struggles toward normal life after a wartime massacre. Beah will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 10-12. All festival events are free and open to the public.

A Troubled King

Tavis Smiley talks with Chapter 16 about the final year of MLK’s life

By Michael Ray Taylor | September 9, 2014

September 9, 2014 Tavis Smiley, host of eponymous talk shows on both PBS and public radio, has collaborated with biographer David Ritz to create a human, novelistic portrait of Martin Luther King in his final year: Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year. Prior to his appearance at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on September 19, Smiley spoke with Chapter 16 about King’s “darkest hours,” the way the civil-rights leader influenced Smiley’s own life, and what he thinks King would make of the present American landscape.

War Noir

James Ellroy talks with Chapter 16 about cops, history, and “literary megalomania”

By Michael Ray Taylor | August 25, 2014

August 25, 2014 In Perfidia, a wartime tour de force, James Ellroy returns to familiar characters and historical figures in the first book of what he calls his Second L.A. Quartet. The novel focuses on betrayals large and small among the Los Angeles police in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ellroy will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 10-12, 2014. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Polar Odyssey

With In the Kingdom of Ice Hampton Sides captures the horror and heroism of nineteenth-century exploration

By Michael Ray Taylor | August 4, 2014

August 4, 2014 With In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, Memphis native Hampton Sides, known for his suspenseful historical writing, records a heroic three-year struggle for survival by the crew of a nineteenth-century polar expedition. Sides will appear at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on August 8, 2014, at 7 p.m., and also at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville on August 12, 2014, at 6:15 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

Freedom Turns Fifty

In The Bill of the Century, Clay Risen explores the fascinating twists and turns of groundbreaking civil-rights legislation

By Michael Ray Taylor | July 28, 2014

July 28, 2014 Clay Risen, a frequent Chapter16 contributor, returns to the historic struggle for civil rights in The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act, a penetrating account of the heroic effort to pass the landmark 1964 legislation. He will appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Cuss Away, Junior Ray

The third installment in John Pritchard’s series features a foul-mouthed deputy

By Michael Ray Taylor | July 24, 2014

July 24, 2014 John Pritchard’s Sailing to Alluvium may be one of the most profane novels ever published, but it’s a distinctly Southern profanity, delivering surprisingly sophisticated social commentary. It is also a real hoot. John Pritchard will appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Driving the Tide (The After Dunkirk Series, Book 6)

By Lee Jackson
Severn River Publishing
444 pages
$19.99

“Driving the Tide is the riveting sixth installment in the After Dunkirk family saga, bringing to life the darkest pages of World War II―and the unflinching bravery of regular people who rose to the challenges of their times.”

~ the publisher