Historian James Carl Nelson follows a young Tennessee soldier on the front lines of World War I
In I Will Hold, James Carl Nelson tells the story of Clifton Cates, a University of Tennessee law-school graduate who joined the Marines just as the U.S. entered the Great War. The young soldier’s amazing luck and bravery during the carnage made him a him a hero.
Michael Chabon’s Moonglow is the death-bed memoir of a fictional Jewish scientist
In Michael Chabon’s new novel, Moonglow, a dying man summons his grandson and reveals his life story, including picaresque adventure, tragic romance, and stellar ambition—and the lingering psycho-social damage inflicted by the Holocaust. Chabon will discuss Moonglow at the Nashville Public Library on December 4 at 3 p.m.
Civil-rights hero—and National Book Award-winner—John Lewis talks with Chapter 16
On November 16, John Lewis—along with his collaborators, co-author Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell—won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature with March: Book Three. But even before he accepted that honor, Lewis had already been named the 2016 recipient of the Nashville Public Library Literary Award, a prize that last week brought him back to Nashville, where he first began his long career as a civil-rights activist. Today Lewis talks with Chapter 16 about his books—and his unparalleled life in public service.
What do we owe the writers who get us through our darkest days?
After a series of embarrassing encounters, it should be clear to me by now that a songwriter’s need to be thanked by a fan is in no way commensurate with my own need to thank every single one of them, but still I persist.
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A writer remembers Nashville’s BookMan/BookWoman, which will close its doors at the end of the year
Shelves groaned from overpopulation. But it was this gaudy Shakespearean excess, the Mumbai crowds of jostling books, that made it such a heady experience to visit BookMan/BookWoman. It was the archaic opulence of it all, as if you might come home smelling of myrrh.
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Today we’re celebrating Parnassus Books as the store celebrates its fifth anniversary
In 2011, Karen Hayes and Ann Patchett opened Parnassus Books, which celebrates its fifth anniversary today. During that time, the Nashville store has doubled its space, bought a bookmobile, and brought authors, hundreds of them, to town. And they’re just getting started. Drop by the store today for special anniversary discounts, giveaways, prizes—and birthday cake.
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