Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Redemption is Always an Option

Adam Ross talks with Chapter 16 about writing, reading, cooking, and planning a happy ending

August 28, 2012 When the protagonists in Adam Ross’s story collection, Ladies and Gentlemen, aren’t deliberately malicious, they’re often unintentionally cruel, the result of being unable to think beyond their own desires. What about Ross himself? In lieu of a standard Q&A, we recently sent him some half-finished sentences to complete. He reveals something about his writing habits, his love of early-90s hip hop, his penchant for cooking, and his plans to take his fiction into uncharted territory. Ross will discuss Ladies and Gentlemen at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 6 at 6:30 p.m., and 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.

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Football Frivolity

Inman Majors skewers SEC football in Love’s Winning Plays, a gem of a comic novel

August 27, 2012 With Love’s Winning Plays, Knoxville native Inman Majors has written one of the finest, funniest, and most uniquely Southern novels ever to consider the game of football, especially college football as it played, hyped, and overhyped in the Southeastern Conference. Majors will read from Love’s Winning Plays at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on September 20 and 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.

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All Woke Up and Nowhere to Go

The mad world of Padgett Powell’s You & Me can be frustrating, but it’s also playful and funny and oddly moving

August, 24, 2012 One of the characters in Padgett Powell’s new novel, You & Me, points out that some of the objects in the room in which they sit are crooked: “Should we straighten everything?” His friend answers, “I think not. I don’t think us capable, one, but I see no reason to undo the charm of things leaning. Things are finally getting in tune with us.” Readers who enjoy the “charm of things leaning” will find much to ponder in this hilarious, disturbing, poignant, and altogether perplexing volume from the author of recent cult favorite The Interrogative Mood and National Book Award nominee Edisto. Powell will discuss You & Me 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.

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New Works A Comin’

Songwriter Steve Earle is set to write two new books

August 24, 2012 Legendary musician Steve Earle has announced that he is writing a memoir for Twelve, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group. The memoir will be “a literary work in three acts,” reports Rolling Stone: “The first act will tell the story of his friendship with mentor Townes Van Zandt. Next comes Earle’s ‘bottoming out’ in Nashville, where he was sent to prison and eventually got clean.

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Killer Kickoff

There’s still time to sign up for the Killer Nashville conference, which takes place this weekend

August 23, 2012 Killer Nashville, a yearly “Conference for Thriller, Suspense, and Mystery Writers and Literature Lovers” begins today at the Hutton Hotel in downtown Nashville. Registration is still available for this conference that, “Unlike other conferences and seminars… offers five different learning tracks for those with varied interests and experience levels: a Writing Track, a Publishing Track, a Career Management & Promotion Track, a Forensic Track, and a Fan Track,” according to its website.

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A Casual Gathering

Ann Patchett will share the stage with J.K. Rowling in New York City this fall

August 23, 2012 Entertainment Weekly said it best: “Does this sound like the best book club meeting ever?” In a recent post on its “Book Shelf” blog, the publication announced that J.K. Rowling will make a rare U.S. appearance to promote her new novel, The Casual Vacancy.

Can you guess who will be speaking alongside Rowling on the stage at New York City’s Lincoln Center?

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