Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Trapped in the Wrong Body

Meredith Russo’s new YA novel asks what you should do when everybody who “knows” you is wrong

In Birthday, Stonewall Award-winning novelist Meredith Russo traces the painful path Morgan must take to live as her true self. In installments spaced a year apart, Morgan travels from confusion to self-loathing—and finally to acceptance.

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In Colder Blood

Casey Cep’s Furious Hours tells the true story of Harper Lee’s plan to out-Capote her old friend Truman Capote

Casey Cep structures Furious Hours, her debut nonfiction book, around three leading characters: an Alabama serial killer, the lawyer who defended him, and novelist Harper Lee, who hoped to write their story. Cep will discuss the book at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville on May 17.

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Life After Life After Life

Nora McInerny rebuilds her life after deep loss in No Happy Endings

In No Happy Endings, Nora McInerny recounts her struggle to embrace a new season of life even as she grieves the brutal constellation of losses she has endured—her father’s death, a miscarriage, and the death of her first husband—all in six weeks. McInerny will discuss No Happy Endings at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 9.

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A Faith that Left Room for Doubt

Rachel Held Evans, author of four books on progressive Christianity, has died at 37

Dayton, Tenn., author Rachel Held Evans, whose books challenged the evangelical teachings of her childhood and urged conservative Christians to make their churches more compassionate and more inclusive, died on Saturday after a short illness.

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“Impermanence”

Book Excerpt: Unopened

Doug Hoekstra, an author and musician, has toured the U.S. and Europe as a singer-songwriter in support of eight albums on various labels. He will read from Unopened, his first poetry collection, on May 7 at The Post East in Nashville.

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Self-Inflicted Wounds

Jonathan Metzl’s Dying of Whiteness details the dangers of racial resentment

In Dying of Whiteness, Nashville psychiatrist Jonathan M. Metzl examines the roots of political self-sabotage in struggling and middle-class white voters.

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