Chapter 16 - Part 16

Movies by Design

In a gorgeous new book, Cathy Whitlock takes readers behind the scenes of Hollywood’s most iconic films

By Susannah Felts | January 6, 2011

January 6, 2011 For every Scorsese and Coppola and Spielberg, for every DeMille and Capra and Hitchcock, there’s a little-celebrated figure known as the production designer—the man or woman “behind the curtain,” to borrow a famous phrase from the beloved film The Wizard of Oz. These artists are as pivotal to engineering movie magic as the directors and film actors who have become brands unto themselves, yet their names are rarely known by filmgoers. In a comprehensive new book, Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction, Cathy Whitlock honors their work and details the highlights of their contributions to a century of American moviemaking, from the early silent films right up to the latest blockbusters.

Rocking the Cradle

How Melissa Duke Mooney channeled a passion for rock ‘n’ roll into a bold new children’s book

By Susannah Felts | December 15, 2010

December 15, 2010 Melissa Duke Mooney loved music, and when she began shopping for an ABC book for her then 4-year-old daughter, Nola, but found nothing that inspired her, she hit on an idea: what if there were an alphabet book based on rock ‘n’ roll artists, with famous acts representing each of the twenty-six letters? Being the woman she was—a do-er, a crafter, an instigator of many fun projects—Mooney decided that, since the book didn’t exist, she’d have to create it herself. The work that resulted, The ABCs of Rock, is an essential addition to the hip kid’s library, as splashy and loud and irrepressible as the artists to whom it pays homage. Tragically, Mooney died before the book was finished. Her husband Neil saw the project through. Today he talks with Chapter 16 about the book and about the passionate, creative woman behind it.

City of Dreamers

Marshall Chapman talks with fifteen celebrated musicians about their earliest days in Nashville

By Susannah Felts | December 7, 2010

December 7, 2010 “Nashville has always been a magnet for dreamers, iconoclasts, poets, pickers, and prophets from all over,” the singer/songwriter Marshall Chapman writes in the prologue to her new book, They Came to Nashville, a collection of interviews with noteworthy musicians about their earliest days in Music City. In the book, Chapman sits down to chat with fifteen old chums and close acquaintances, including many who have shared a stage with her.

The Book Lady of Sevier County

Dolly Parton talks with Chapter 16 about why she gives books to hundreds of thousands of children

By Susannah Felts | November 18, 2010

November 18, 2010 Dolly Parton is almost universally adored, not just for her songs but for her sunny, shiny, sweeter-than-sweet-tea persona, her gusto, and her wit. It’s virtually impossible to name another member of Music City royalty who can claim a following of such diversity. But even Parton’s biggest fans may be unaware of her less flashy role as “The Book Lady.” To children, she’s a nearly magical figure who leaves books in the mailboxes of boys and girls everywhere. In more realistic terms, she’s the founder of the Imagination Library, a rapidly growing program which sends free books to kids. She recently spoke with Chapter 16 about the program and about the childhood that inspired it.

The Particular Art of Magical Realism

Aimee Bender talks with Chapter 16 about her work

By Susannah Felts | October 25, 2010

October 25, 2010 Aimee Bender, a modern fabulist and sharp prose stylist, sprinkles fairy-tale dust into contemporary settings and conflicts. The central conceit of her latest novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, is fetchingly simple and surreal: one day, a young girl names Rose Edelstein bites into a forkful of her mother’s lemon cake and finds she can “taste” her mother’s feelings. Bender recently spoke with Chapter 16 about the book, food as metaphor, and what compels her to write magical realism. She will discuss her work at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on October 28 at 7 p.m.

Fantine's Folly

The protagonist of Susan Straight’s new novel can’t escape the past until she understands it

By Susannah Felts | October 18, 2010

October 18, 2010 Traversing both the gentrified pockets and gangstaland of Los Angeles, as well as the sugar-cane fields and sweltering swampland of Louisiana, Susan Straight’s new novel is a complex work of art. Take One Candle Light a Room offers exquisitely rendered settings, lyrical prose, and a formidably large cast of characters. Its narrator, Fantine Antoine, an African American of Louisiana Creole descent and California birth, is an accomplished travel writer, but in this book she undertakes a journey unlike any she has experienced before—one that stands to alter her path permanently. Straight will read from the book at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis on October 18 at 6 p.m.

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