Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Anything But Bland

Amber Wilson’s For the Love of the South began as a website of the same name

Like many beautiful books these days, Amber Wilson’s For the Love of the South began as a website of the same name—”a place,” she writes, “where I shared my love for the food, characters, and culture that helped shape who I am.” She will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 13 and at Novel in Memphis on March 15.

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Hacking Religion

Humor and wit are the most sacred virtues in Rami Shapiro’s Holy Rascals

“God is real. Everything we say about God is made up,” writes Rami Shapiro in his new book, Holy Rascals: Advice for Spiritual Revolutionaries. Shapiro will appear at two Nashville events this month: at Parnassus Books on March 14 and at the Scarritt Bennett Center on March 24.

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What Truths We Can Stomach

The Cadaver King and The Country Dentist tells the story of two flawed trial experts

In The Cadaver King and The Country Dentist, Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington delve into the tangled history of two scientific “experts” in the Mississippi court system. Balko and Carrington will discuss The Cadaver King and The Country Dentist at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 10 at 2 p.m.

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“Gastronomy”

Book Excerpt: The Naming of Strays

Erin Elizabeth Smith is the creative director at the Sundress Academy for the Arts in Knoxville and managing editor of Sundress Publications. She will give a free public reading on March 5 at the John C. Hodges Library on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

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Goin’ to Memphis Where the Beat is Tough

Robert Gordon’s Memphis Rent Party captures the grit and heart of the blues

Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock & Soul in Music’s Hometown is a fascinating journey through the back alleys and juke joints of Memphis as nonfiction author Robert Gordon searches for musical icons and forgotten heroes. Gordon will appear at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis on March 9, at Earnestine & Hazel’s in Memphis on March 10, and at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 17.

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Sometimes You Can Go Home Again

Helene Dunbar discusses her latest YA novel, Boomerang

Teenagers often have questions about their identity, but Sean Woodhouse is more confused than most. In the five years since he disappeared from home, he’s acquired a new name, a new family, and a new relationship. Helene Dunbar will discuss Boomerang, her new young-adult novel, at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 9.

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