Chapter 16 - Part 392

In Praise of Strong Women

Robert K. Massie, winner of the 2013 Nashville Public Library Literary Award, talks about the inspiration for his blockbuster biography of Catherine the Great

By Fernanda Moore | November 4, 2013

November 4, 2013 Two years after the publication of Catherine the Great, Robert K. Massie still finds his subject’s political example instructive, and he often notes parallels between Catherine’s public reputation and the treatment of today’s female leaders. Prior to his Nashville visit to accept the 2013 Nashville Public Library Literary Award, Massie spoke with Chapter 16 about his career and inspiration. He will give a lecture on November 9, 2013, at 10 a.m. at the University School of Nashville. Massie will also appear—with novelist Suzanne Kingsbury—at the Nashville Public Library on November 10 at 2 p.m. as part of the Nashville Writers Circle series. Both events are free and open to the public.

A Collision of the Beautiful and the Brutal

In a new anthology, John Branscum and Wayne Thomas have collected the literary treasures of Appalachia

By Ralph Bowden | October 31, 2013

October 31, 2013 For Red Holler: Contemporary Appalachian Literature, John Branscum and Wayne Thomas have compiled a group of stories, essays, poems, and graphic narratives from the work of twenty-three Appalachian authors. As the book’s subtitle suggests, the selections are truly contemporary, and many stretch the boundaries of traditional literary forms. They also stretch the old Appalachian stereotypes of primitive violence, poverty, and ignorance.

The Novel of Her Life

Ann Patchett talks about her new essay collection—and the beginnings of her next novel

By Stephen Usery | October 30, 2013

October 30, 2013 Ann Patchett energetically resists all efforts to identify autobiographical elements in her fiction, but she has never been averse to personal writing in general: in fact, as she explains in her new book, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, she got her start as a writer by publishing essays and features for national magazines. Prior to her reading on November 4, 2013, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville , Patchett spoke with Chapter 16 about how opening a bookstore gave her the courage to publish this book. The event, part of the Salon@615 series, is free and open to the public.

Thanks to Parnassus

By Stephen Usery | October 30, 2013

October 30, 2013 Ann Patchett’s 2011 novel, State of Wonder, tells the story of a Minnesota scientist who travels to the Amazon to get to the bottom of a colleague’s mysterious death and in the process finally comes to terms with a mentor she’s tried for years to forget.

Out of Many, One

Simon Winchester pays homage to the Americans who built this country’s infrastructure

By Chris Scott | October 29, 2013

October 29, 2013 In The Men Who United the States: America’s Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics, and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible, Simon Winchester lauds those who physically united a nation. The inventions and public works he describes have served to bring – and hold – together one of the largest and most diverse countries on the planet. Winchester will discuss The Men Who United the States at Parnassus Books in Nashville on November 7, 2013, at 6:30 p.m.

American-Made and the Nature of Community

A writer visits the real Tennessee shirt factory at the heart of her new historical novel

By Susan Gregg Gilmore | October 25, 2013

October 25, 2013 Wages for skilled cut-and-sew workers have risen faster than those of the average job, but young Americans aren’t interested in garment manufacturing. Experts say the work just isn’t glamorous enough to attract their attention. I wish some of them could have joined me recently when I spent an afternoon in an old shirt factory in Dunlap, Tennessee, about twenty miles northwest of Chattanooga.

Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones

By Dolly Parton with Holly George-Warren, curated by Rebecca Seaver
Ten Speed Press
336 pages
$50

“Featuring behind-the-scenes stories from Dolly Parton’s life and career, and the largest reveal of her private costume archive, this gorgeously photographed book spotlights her most unforgettable looks from the 1960s to now.”

~ the publisher