Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Bricks & Mortar

Parnassus Books, the new independent bookstore owned by Ann Patchett and Karen Hayes, has found its Nashville home

August 17, 2011 Former Random House rep Karen Hayes and bestselling Nashville author Ann Patchett have announced the location of their long-awaited bookstore: Greenbriar Village, at the intersection of Abbott-Martin Road and Hillsboro Pike in Green Hills. More news: Ingram veteran Mary Grey James, who knows the book industry inside and out, will be joining the Parnassus team as general manager. The store’s formal launch date has not been set, but look for doors to open in October. For additional details as they are announced, “like” the store on Facebook, here, or follow it on Twitter at @ParnassusBooks1. In the meantime, the full press release follows:

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The Wonder of Her Smile

In his first novel, Carson Morton sends readers to the Louvre in the company of thieves

August 16, 2011 In Stealing Mona Lisa, first-time novelist Carson Morton takes readers to the heart of Belle-Époque Paris to participate in a notorious art heist with a cast of lovable rogues. Morton will read from the book at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Brentwood on August 18 at 7 p.m. He will also appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville.

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Anniversary Accolade

Oprah can’t get enough of Michael Knight’s The Typist

August 15, 2011 Novelist Michael Knight, a professor of English at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, published his elegant novel The Typist last August to great acclaim. A week after the first anniversary of its publication, the praise keeps on coming: Oprah.com made The Typist its Book of the Week last Tuesday. Calling it a “quiet, heartbreaking sleeper novel,” the editors also included a link to the site’s full review. Read it here.

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Maternal Instincts

Kay West documents an adoptive mother’s love for a tragically abused child

August 15, 2011 Six years ago, Florida authorities investigated a child neglect case so vile and gut-wrenching that even an experienced social worker and a cop found themselves vomiting at the scene. In a small house full of filth, barely clothed and confined to a foul closet, was a profoundly neglected six-year-old girl named Dani. Now Nashville author Kay West has written a book about how Diane and Bernie Lierow came to welcome Dani into their family. She recently spoke with Chapter 16 by phone about Dani’s Story.

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The Beat Goes Down

Clyde Edgerton brilliantly captures the complex dance of music and race in a small Southern town in 1963

August 12, 2011 At barely 200 pages, The Night Train is Clyde Edgerton’s shortest book, and yet in its simple story of two musically inclined teenagers, one white and one black, it may surpass Walking Across Egypt and The Bible Salesman as his best. Edgerton will appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville.

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Sparks from My Hand

James Dickey’s legacy continues

August 12, 2011 It’s been almost fifteen years since American poetry lost one of its greatest luminaries, Vanderbilt graduate James Dickey. Dickey’s influence on Southern poetry—and fiction (we won’t soon forget Deliverance)—endures in countless archives, journals, and anthologies.

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