Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

A Contagious Path to Change

Gloria Steinem’s most memorable words remain relevant

The Truth Will Set You Free, but First It Will Piss You Off! collects selected quotes and essays from Gloria Steinem’s many books, articles, and speeches, along with a few contributions from her famous friends, including Michelle Obama and bell hooks. Steinem will discuss the book at War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville on November 1.

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A Boy and His Hero

Bill Gubbins recalls an extraordinary 1969 encounter with Frank Zappa

The Hot Rats Book tells the story of how, through an unlikely series of events, 19-year-old Bill Gubbins was invited to photograph the 1969 Hot Rats recording session and camp out in Frank Zappa’s Los Angeles home.

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Memory is the Chariot

Ta-Nehisi Coates turns his talents toward fiction in a powerful debut novel

Journalist and essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates brings compassion and mastery to his debut novel, The Water Dancer, a story of slavery, freedom, and the mystical power of memory. Coates will discuss The Water Dancer at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville on November 6 at 6:15 p.m.

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The Truth Shall Set You Free

Victims of an infamous Memphis adoption mill tell their stories in Before and After

Some survivors of Georgia Tann’s notorious baby-selling operation spent decades wondering who they really were before finding their birth families later in life. They share their experiences in Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate’s Before and After. The authors will appear at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis on October 26 and Parnassus Books in Nashville on October 28.

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The World Would Never Be the Same

Alan Gratz’s new novel for young readers sensitively portrays multiple perspectives on D-Day

In Allies, his latest novel for young readers, New York Times bestselling author and Knoxville native Alan Gratz returns to a favorite subject: World War II depicted through the eyes of young people. Gratz will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on October 23.

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Nuanced and Complex and Enigmatic

Malcolm Gladwell reveals our sometimes tragically ineffective strategies for dealing with people we don’t know

In Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell examines notorious misunderstandings between strangers and what they can teach us. Gladwell will appear at Belmont University in Nashville on October 22.

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