Chapter 16 - Part 414

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.

“Fiction Was My First Love”

Elizabeth Gilbert talks with Chapter 16 about her new historical novel, The Signature of All Things

By Sarah Norris | October 24, 2013

October 24, 2013 Bestselling memoirist Elizabeth Gilbert will discuss her first novel in thirteen years, The Signature of All Things, as part of the Salon@615 series at the Nashville Public Library on November 1, 2013, at 6:15 p.m. She will also appear at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville on November 2, 2013, at 7 p.m. The Nashville event is free. Tickets for the Knoxville event are $35 and include a copy of the novel.

Funny Verse, for Better or Worse

With O, What a Luxury, Garrison Keillor skewers modern life and takes his place beside Ogden Nash and Roy Blount Jr.

By Michael Ray Taylor | October 23, 2013

October 23, 2013 Garrison Keillor’s popular NPR program, A Prairie Home Companion, has provided the basis for Keillor’s many novels and story collections, a film starring Meryl Streep, and now a volume of comic verse. Keillor will read from O, What a Luxury on October 28, 2013, at 6:15 p.m. at the Nashville Public Library. The event, part of the Salon@615 series, is free and open to the public.

A Twin, Untwinned

Jody Casella’s debut novel is a convincing portrayal of a young man’s staggering loss—of both sibling and self

By Susannah Felts | October 21, 2013

October 21, 2013 Just two months have passed since Marsh Windsor’s identical twin, Austin, was killed in a car wreck, with Marsh at the wheel. But what nobody imagines is the real reason behind the teen’s odd behavior. He’s seeking a “thin space,” a passage through which it’s possible to slip into the afterlife. Jody Casella will read from her debut novel, Thin Space, at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on October 26, 2013, at 2 p.m.

Book Excerpt: Clay Risen’s American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye

Picking out the notes in a good sipping whiskey can take a little practice

By Clay Risen | October 17, 2013

October 17, 2013 Chapter 16’s own Clay Risen, author of A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination, will launch his new book, American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye, at a whiskey-tasting event at Barista Parlor in East Nashville October 25, 2013, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35 and include a copy of the book. All proceeds benefit Humanities Tennessee. Today Chapter 16 is publishing an excerpt from the book, as well as Q&A with Risen, but to get a real taste for American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye, you’ll need to reserve your spot at Barista Parlor by clicking here.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker