In The Juice novelist Jay McInerney collects the best of his essays about wine
June 20, 2012 Former Nashvillian Jay McInerney is enjoying a fruitful summer thanks to his love of grapes and their derivative beverages. A novelist who also works as an enthusiastic wine critic for The Washington Post, McInerney has published The Juice: Vinous Veritas, a collection of essays on his favorite subject.
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Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. plunges into the South of 1865
June 20, 2012 The war is over, Lincoln has been assassinated, all slaves are officially free, and the South is in turmoil: with so many hopes and expectations, so many frustrations and resentments, this is fertile ground in which to plant a novel. In Freeman, Leonard Pitts Jr. makes the most of this setting’s potential for conflict. The book’s main characters include Sam Freeman, a self-educated former slave who escaped to the North fifteen years earlier and is now determined to go back and find his wife; and Prudence Cafferty Kent, a privileged young war widow from Boston with a plan to educate former slaves in the South.
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Patricia McKissack and her son Frederick McKissack Jr., along with illustrator Randy DuBurke, have created a graphic novel about the most famous African-American cowboy
June 19, 2012 Award-winning children’s author Patricia McKissack collaborates with her son, Frederick McKissack Jr., to tell the unlikely and compelling story of the most famous African-American cowboy. Best Shot in the West: The Adventures of Nat Love is a biography of Nat Love, a contemporary of General Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, Billy the Kid, and the Masterson brothers. Love, a.k.a. “Deadwood Dick,” rose from slavery to become an accomplished and respected member of the Wild West community during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Vivid, colorful paintings by illustrator Randy DuBurke provide a stunning visual component to this graphic novel for adventurous readers aged twelve and up.
Read moreCary Holladay wins the Ohio State University Prize in Short Fiction
June 18, 2012 Memphis writer Cary Holladay, director of the River City Writers series at the University of Memphis, has landed the top honor in Ohio State University’s annual short-fiction prize with her book The Deer in the Mirror: Stories and a Novella. In announcing the news, the Ohio State University Press, which will publish the collection next year, wrote, “Cary Holladay enriches her fiction with historical detail, folklore, and regional culture.”
Read moreDear Friends:
We are sad to report the passing of Olivia Renkl, the mother of Chapter 16 Editor Margaret Renkl. Chapter 16 will be on hiatus for a few days.
Read moreJay McInerney discusses the cultural impact of The Great Gatsby
June 11, 2012 In an essay written for The Guardian, esteemed novelist, wine critic, former Nashville resident, and part-time actor Jay McInerney has set out to plumb the depths of the spirit of American consciousness.
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