Cyril E. Vetter riffs on the troubled times of Louisiana bluesman Charles “Butch” Hornsby
In any history of the American music scene of the late sixties and early seventies, the name of Louisiana songwriter Charles “Butch” Hornsby, who died of leukemia in 2004, is…
Chapter 16 tallies the critical accolades falling to Holly Tucker’s Blood Work
The 1660s saw an intense scientific race between England and France, then the two most scientifically advanced nations. The rivalry was every bit as heated and fervently nationalistic as the…
Legendary nonfiction writer John McPhee heads to Tennessee to accept the Nashville Public Library Literary Award
…still, fifteen or twenty quail, couple of coveys, will come and go around. The gray fox don’t come nearer than the swamp there, but I’ve had coons come in here;…
Chris Bohjalian’s literary ghost story transcends genre, just in time for Halloween
A tortured father suffering from post-traumatic stress. Precocious twin daughters drawn to an abandoned greenhouse. A secret society of women who grow herbs for nefarious purposes. A great Victorian pile…
Chad Harbach’s first novel creates an engrossing world within—and without—the baseball diamond
In the final days of regular season play last week, the post-season dreams of several major-league baseball teams turned, as always, upon sudden explosions. There were good explosions, like that…
Walter Mosley talks with Chapter 16 about aging, politics, and the many jobs of a prolific writer
The title character of Walter Mosley’s The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey is a ninety-one-year-old man physically trapped in a filthy Los Angeles apartment and figuratively trapped within dementia, a…
