There was no sane reason for me to run for Congress, but 1970 was an insane year — and when one is young, all things seem possible.
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Barbecuing the Hog
A political rookie hits the campaign trail
Mississippi Murder
Historian Trent Brown unpacks the meaning of the 1969 murder of a young girl
In Murder in McComb, Trent Brown revisits the killing of 12-year-old Tina Andrews, investigating both the crime and its larger meaning. Brown will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on February 25.
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Light in Their Darkest Hour
Erik Larson brings Churchill and the Blitz to life
In The Splendid and the Vile, bestselling author Erik Larson explains how Winston Churchill inspired the British people to keep fighting through the dark days when Britain stood alone against the Nazis.
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To Celebrate Being Alive
An award-winning poet reflects on the importance of daily practices
In Dailiness: Essays on Poetry, Mark Jarman considers canonical and contemporary writers while reflecting on the kinship of prayers and poems.
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Scrappy Survivors
Claire Jimenez’s debut story collection packs a punch
Staten Island Stories, the debut story collection from Vanderbilt M.F.A. grad Claire Jimenez, depicts the diverse lives of the forgotten borough. Jimenez and poet Cara Dees will discuss their work at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on March 20.
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Smoke Across the Sea
Nan Enstad challenges myths of capitalism in Cigarettes, Inc.
The traditional portrayal of global capitalism places the white, male American entrepreneur at the center of the story. In Cigarettes, Inc., a history of the cigarette industry that spans from the U.S. South to China, Nan Enstad upends that idea. Enstad delivers the Belle McWilliams Lecture in American History at the University of Memphis on February 20.
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