Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

"It's a Gift I Want to Give the City I Love"

Ann Patchett and Karen Hayes talk with Chapter 16 about their new bookstore—Parnassus Books

June 13, 2011 Last Wednesday, novelist Ann Patchett appeared on NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show to discuss her new novel, State of Wonder. It was in many ways a routine discussion about a much-anticipated book by the bestselling author of Bel Canto and Truth & Beauty (among many others), but nearly an hour into the conversation, Patchett casually dropped a bombshell: she and a business partner, former Random House sales rep Karen Hayes, were about to open a new bookstore in Nashville, a city that has been without one for the last six months. “I don’t know if I’m opening an ice shop in the age of Frigidaire,” Patchett said, “but I can’t live in a city that doesn’t have a bookstore.” Chapter 16 caught up with both Hayes and Patchett and talked with them by phone about their plans for Parnassus Books and about the story behind the store.

Read more

Giddy

Nashville writers react to the news that Ann Patchett and Karen Hayes are planning to open a new bookstore

June 13, 2011 When bestselling novelist Ann Patchett announced that she and a business partner, former Random House sales rep Karen Hayes, would soon be opening a new bookstore in Nashville, the city’s writers responded with joy:

Read more

"Children Playing with My Skeleton"

June 10, 2011 Next month aspiring young writers will come from across the state—and beyond—to explore their creativity and hone their passion for writing at the thirteenth annual Tennessee Young Writers Workshop. TYWW, held on the campus of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, is a week-long residential workshop for students in grades seven through twelve. The faculty, all established writers in their own right, foster creative and literary skills through exposure to real-life professional situations, effective writing exercises, and open discussions. Students also gain a network of peer support that offers encouragement and often persists long after the workshop is over. “Children Playing with My Skeleton” was written at last year’s conference by Lauren Moore, a twelfth grader at Cary Academy in Cary, North Carolina. Lauren has attended the TYWW since 2009. Applications for this year’s workshop are due June 27. Click here to learn more. You can also support young writers with the gift of a full or partial scholarship; click here for details.

Read more

Round Two

On the cusp of publishing his second book in a year, Adam Ross talks with Chapter 16 about women, men, and life since Mr. Peanut

June 9, 2011 Last June, Adam Ross’s debut novel, Mr. Peanut, inspired critical assessments like “ingenious,” “brilliant,” “riveting,” “audacious,” “arresting,” “forceful,” “involving,” “stirring,” “original,” “harrowing,” “bleakly convincing,” “unflinching,” and “mesmerizing.” A year later, the Nashville author is back with Ladies and Gentlemen, a new collection of short stories. Due on shelves June 28, it considers many of the same questions raised in Mr. Peanut: the human temptation to cruelty, the simultaneously redemptive and damning nature of passion, the difficulty in forging an integrated and identifiable self from disparate and sometimes self-contradictory impulses and desires. Today Ross offers Chapter 16 readers a sneak peak at the collection and answers questions about the book.

Read more

Book Excerpt: Adam Ross’s Ladies and Gentlemen

With the opening pages of “Middlemen,” Adam Ross gives Chapter 16 readers an early look at his forthcoming story collection

June 9, 2011 In the fall of 1980, my parents enrolled me in seventh grade at the Trinity School—a tony, Episcopal private school in Manhattan that was all boys until ninth grade. So my two best new friends, Abe Herman and Kyle Duckworth, were thirteen- year- olds on the cusp of, among other things, coeducation.

Read more

Book Excerpt: Adam Ross's Ladies and Gentlemen

With the opening pages of “Middlemen,” Adam Ross gives Chapter 16 readers an early look at his forthcoming story collection

June 9, 2011 In the fall of 1980, my parents enrolled me in seventh grade at the Trinity School—a tony, Episcopal private school in Manhattan that was all boys until ninth grade. So my two best new friends, Abe Herman and Kyle Duckworth, were thirteen- year- olds on the cusp of, among other things, coeducation.

Read more
TAKE THE SHORT READER SURVEY! CHAPTER 16 SURVEYOR SURVEYING