Motherless Child
“A Haunting of My Own Name”
Damaged Goods
Both in and out of Place
The Best-Laid Plans
Chapter 16
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Rounding Up the Strays

Chapter 16 talks with George Singleton about the lost dogs—and humans—in his hilarious new story collection

By Michael Ray Taylor |

April 21, 2014 With Stray Decorum, his fourth short-story collection, George Singleton has cemented his reputation as one of the country’s finest—and funniest—masters of the short story. Singleton will give a free public reading at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville on April 21, 2014. The event will take place in the Dead Poets Society Room of Lowry Hall at 5 p.m.

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Here to Tell the Story

John Jeremiah Sullivan reports an early story of the blues

By Serenity Gerbman |

April 21, 2014 While the book world is consumed with questions about its future, it seems important to take a step back now and again and remind ourselves that what really matters, more than anything, is that there are people in this world with stories to tell, and that we are here to pay attention. There are arguably few writers in the last decade who have done more to adhere to this code than John Jeremiah Sullivan.

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Bossman

With In It For The Long Run: A Musical Odyssey, Jim Rooney takes readers on the ride of his life

By Stephen Trageser |

April 17, 2014 In a music career spanning six decades, Jim Rooney has worn nearly every hat—from stage hand, promoter, and performer to producer, publisher, and biographer— and crossed paths with all manner of luminous talents: Bob Dylan, Howlin’ Wolf, John Prine, and Iris DeMent, just to name a few. Rooney will discuss and sign copies of his autobiography, In It For The Long Run, at Parnassus Books in Nashville at 6:30 p.m. on April 23, 2014, and at The Station Inn in Nashville on April 24, 2014, from 6 to 8 p.m.

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In Praise of Moderation

Todd S. Purdum’s new book about landmark civil-rights legislation looks back at a Congress capable of compromise

By Peter Kuryla |

April 16, 2014 In An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his highly readable popular history of the politics behind the groundbreaking civil-rights legislation, Todd Purdum is open to messy, multi-causal explanations involving a large cast of historical characters. Purdum will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on April 23, 2014, at 3 p.m.

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Everyone Wanting Only the Best

In The Vacationers, Emma Straub’s characters head to Mallorca amid simmering conflict

By Ed Tarkington |

April 14, 2014 Just as Jim and Franny Post prepare to embark on a two-week jaunt to Mallorca—a final family trip before their youngest child leaves for college—their perfect life falls apart. Emma Straub will discuss The Vacationers on April 17, 2014, at 7 p.m. in Buttrick Hall, Room 102, on the Vanderbilt University campus in Nashville. The event is free and open to the public.

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Take it From Mama Rena

When it comes to comfort food, Pat and Gina Neely are onto something

By Susannah Felts |

April 14, 2014 With their third cookbook, Memphis restaurateurs and Food Network celebrities Pat and Gina Neely offer a charming celebration of handed-down traditions, memories preserved through meals. The Neelys will discuss Back Home with the Neelys at the Nashville Public Library on April 17, 2014, at 6:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

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