Chapter 16 - Part 19

Weirdlandia

Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and his wife, illustrator Carson Ellis, continue their playful exploration of a mythical land at the edge of America’s most proudly peculiar city

By Ed Tarkington | September 21, 2012

September 21, 2012 Colin Meloy, frontman and primary songwriter for the Decemberists, is best known for his darkly ironic sensibility and a penchant for the macabre. These characteristics are on ample display in The Wildwood Chronicles, Meloy’s auspicious venture into the world of children’s fantasy fiction, featuring illustrations by his wife, Carson Ellis. Under Wildwood continues the standard Meloy and Ellis established in the first volume for blending the traditional elements of fantasy fiction with a clever, witty juxtaposition of magical forests and coffee houses frequented by vegan pacifists on bicycles. Meloy and Ellis will appear at the Nashville Children’s Theater on October 1 at 6:15 p.m. This free event is part of the Salon@615 series.

The Arc of Destiny

In Barack Obama: The Story, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and biographer David Maraniss meticulously documents the making of the first multi-racial American president

By Ed Tarkington | August 30, 2012

August 30, 2012 Regardless of where one stands on the subject of Barack Obama, the trajectory of his life—his nomadic ancestors on both sides, his naively courageous mother and mercurial father, his global childhood , and his search for identity and purpose as a young man—can only be seen as remarkable. With Barack Obama: The Story, David Maraniss delivers what will likely stand as the first volume of the president’s definitive biography and an absorbing history that, through the window of an extraordinary life, is also the story of America—past, present, and future. David Maraniss will discuss Barack Obama at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Goodbye, Good Luck, I Love You All

With Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Ben Fountain delivers the Iraq War novel the literary world has been waiting for

By Ed Tarkington | July 31, 2012

July 31, 2012 As a novelist, Ben Fountain’s intentions are far from subtle. He is going for broke in his new novel, bringing together a variety of pressing contemporary themes in a story that is as emotionally stirring as it is both chastening and bizarrely funny. With Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Fountain has produced what may eventually stand as the definitive American Iraq War novel. Fountain will read from and discuss the book at at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Exquisite Intricacy

Bobbie Ann Mason talks to Chapter 16 about drawing art out of life

By Ed Tarkington | July 23, 2012

July 23, 2012 Since her first published story, “Offerings,” was plucked from the slush pile in 1980 by New Yorker fiction editor Roger Angell, Bobbie Ann Mason has fashioned a career that is far more unique and distinct than its association with literary movements such as the “Dirty Realism” or “Minimalist” style might imply. Mason’s stories and novels are at heart studies in intimacy: the private, painstaking, sometimes brutally honest examination of interior lives, written in a style that suggests a private, unspoken confidence between reader and author. Bobbie Ann Mason will discuss The Girl in the Blue Beret at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

The Old Grief of Blood

Tom Franklin’s new whodunit is a searing meditation on the nature of friendship and loss

By Ed Tarkington | July 19, 2012

July 19, 2012 In Tom Franklin’s latest novel, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter—the novel’s title is derived from an old method for teaching elementary school students how to spell Mississippi—simultaneously paradisiacal and perilous forests form the thematic center of a compelling literary thriller that skillfully blends the conventions of crime fiction with sensitive examinations of Faulkner Country’s inescapable concerns: race, love, family secrets, and the twin demons of longing and regret. Franklin will discuss Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14, 2012, at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Up Close and Personal

Just in time for the London Summer Olympics, Chris Cleave—author of the international bestseller Little Bee—delivers a poignant and suspenseful tale about the interior lives of elite track cyclists

By Ed Tarkington | July 18, 2012

July 18, 2012 Chris Cleave’s second novel, Little Bee enjoyed enormous critical and popular success. A devastatingly emotional but immensely readable tale about a young Nigerian refugee and a suburban London woman whose lives are drawn together by happenstance, Little Bee became a surprise hit, largely due to word of mouth. The novel has over two million copies in print and is being developed into a film by Nicole Kidman. Now, with Gold, his sweeping new novel about an intense competition between two Olympic cyclists, Cleave is poised to repeat that success. He will discuss and sign copies of Gold on July 24 at 6:15 p.m. as part of the Salon@615 series at the Nashville Public Library. The event is free and open to the public.

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