Chapter 16 - Part 15

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.

Rounding Up the Strays

Chapter 16 talks with George Singleton about the lost dogs—and humans—in his hilarious new story collection

By Michael Ray Taylor | April 21, 2014

April 21, 2014 With Stray Decorum, his fourth short-story collection, George Singleton has cemented his reputation as one of the country’s finest—and funniest—masters of the short story. Singleton will give a free public reading at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville on April 21, 2014. The event will take place in the Dead Poets Society Room of Lowry Hall at 5 p.m.

Home-Run Shoot-Out

A magical baseball season unites the four disparate—and often desperate—narrators of Wiley Cash’s new thriller, This Dark Road to Mercy

By Michael Ray Taylor | February 12, 2014

February 12, 2014 North Carolina-based author Wiley Cash garnered widespread praise for his 2012 debut novel, A Land More Kind Than Home, which explored a small town’s dark secret through multiple narrators. He returns to the technique in his new novel, This Dark Road to Mercy, a short, gripping thriller in which the action unfolds via four very different voices, against the backdrop of the 1998 home-run race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. Cash will discuss and sign This Dark Road to Mercy at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on February 17, 2014, at 6 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