Jennifer Egan’s Manhattan Beach imagines a shadow world—on land and beneath the waves
Manhattan Beach, Jennifer Egan’s surprising new novel, unfolds in New York during the Great Depression and the Second World War. Egan will appear at the 2017 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 13-15.
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Mrs. Fletcher is Tom Perrotta’s timely—and timeless—tale of a mother and a son and an empty nest
Whether he’s dissecting student-teacher power games, riffing on overinvolved parenting, or taking inspiration from an actual doomsday cult, Tom Perrotta writes books that are slick, delightful explorations of classic suburban mores garnished with contemporary concerns. Perrotta will discuss his new novel, Mrs. Fletcher, at Parnassus Books in Nashville on August 9 at 6:30 p.m.
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With Touch, Courtney Maum sweetly skewers the wired rich
The plot of Touch unfolds in a near future that might actually arrive next week—the perfect backdrop for Courtney Maum’s protagonist, a trend forecaster whose livelihood depends on predicting exactly what consumers will want to buy next. Maum will discuss the novel at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on June 9 at 6 p.m.
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Novelist Meg Wolitzer talks about time, friendship, and why you can’t go home again
“Early friendships take place at a time when you are experiencing all kinds of ‘firsts.’ And for another person to witness your firsts, or let you see hers, can be especially intimate and meaningful.” Prior to her appearance at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on March 23 at 7 p.m., Meg Wolitzer talks about her novel The Interestings.
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Shakespearean James Shapiro talks with Chapter 16 about The Year of Lear
Along with Jerry Brotton, Shakespearean scholar James Shapiro will discuss “Jews and Muslims in Shakespeare’s World” in Hardie Auditorium on the Rhodes College campus in Memphis on February 22 at 6 p.m. The event, part of the Communities in Conversation series, is free and open to the public.
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Helen Ellis dishes on poker, Twitter, and American Housewife
Whether she’s cracking “Southern Lady Code,” chronicling a neighborly dispute that metastasizes into an epic battle, or skewering the conventions of reality television, Helen Ellis manages to be both outrageous and utterly believable. Ellis will discuss American Housewife at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 14-16.
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