Chapter 16 - Part 465

A Father’s Journey

Journalist Buzz Bissinger shares a haunting, intimate account of his quest to know his special-needs son

By Michael Ray Taylor | August 22, 2012

August 22, 2012 In Buzz Bissinger’s Father’s Day: A Journey into the Mind & Heart of My Extraordinary Son a ten-day road trip across America is the backdrop for a haunting and brutally honest account of a father’s struggle to understand the adult his special-needs child has become. Bissinger, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Friday Night Lights, presents an unforgettable portrait of his son Zach, a cognitively disabled man in his mid-twenties who speaks in nonstop non sequiturs, can name and give the birthday of every person he has ever met, and memorizes maps so accurately that his family refers to him as a “human GPS.” Bissinger will discuss Father’s Day at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

A Human Thing of Mystery

In his new book, Daniel Woodrell has written a dozen heart-breaking stories of love, death, and revenge

By Lyda Phillips | August 21, 2012

August 21, 2012 Daniel Woodrell, the acclaimed author of Winter’s Bone, Tomato Red, and The Death of Sweet Mister, has published a slim volume of short stories every bit as gritty and searing as his longer work. Woodrell will read from and discuss The Outlaw Album at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

The Child Inside

In a new essay for the Potomac Review, Bill Brown describes one thing he’s learned from poetry

By Margaret Renkl | August 21, 2012

August 21, 2012 In an essay for the Potomac Review called “One Thing I’ve Learned,” Nashville poet Bill Brown explains the spiritual value of keeping an open heart, of remaining tuned to wonder:

Full Critical Response

Kristen Iversen’s memoir picks up praise from critics across the board

By Tom Markham | August 20, 2012

August 20, 2012 As the summer goes on, Kristen Iversen’s sobering new memoir, Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, continues to grab the attention of readers. Critics have noticed that the Memphis writer’s style ranges from deeply expressive to factually journalistic in this book, giving it an element of appeal to many different readers.

The Passion of Edith Wharton

Novelist Jennie Fields imagines the story behind a troubled period in the life of Edith Wharton

By Faye Jones | August 20, 2012

August 20, 2012 If your picture of Edwardian novelist Edith Wharton tends to feature veiled conversations in drawing rooms, you may well be shocked at the passionate and vulnerable woman who comes to life in The Age of Desire by Nashvillian Jennie Fields. This novel is set during the year when the married Wharton embarked on an affair with a younger man. Fields will read from The Age of Desire on August 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Parnassus Books in Nashville, on September 20 at 6:15 p.m. at the Nashville Public Library as part of the Salon@615 series, and at the Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

“Immeasurable”

By Jeff Hardin | August 17, 2012

August 17, 2012 Jeff Hardin, a native of Savannah, Tennessee, is a professor of English at Columbia State Community College. A graduate of Austin Peay State University and the University of Alabama, where he earned an M.F.A. in creative writing, Hardin is the author of two chapbooks, Deep in the Shallows (GreenTower Press) and The Slow Hill Out (Pudding House), as well as one book-length collection, Fall Sanctuary, recipient of the Nicholas Roerich Prize. His poems have appeared in many journals, including The Southern Review, Ploughshares, Poetry Northwest, and Zone 3, among others, and have been featured on The Writer’s Almanac, Poem of the Week , and Verse Daily. Hardin will read from his work at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville on August 23 at 7 p.m.

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