Chapter 16 - Part 528

Rehabilitating Butterfat

For Jeni Britton Bauer, making splendid ice cream is one way to make the world a better place

By Susannah Felts | July 18, 2011

July 18, 2011 For Jeni Britton Bauer, the creative force behind Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, butterfat is a blank canvas on which to explore a palette of exotic, tantalizing flavors: Salty Caramel, Wildberry Lavender, Cherry Lambic, Bangkok Peanut (cayenne pepper, coconut, honey, and peanut-butter ice cream). Her first store outside of her home state of Ohio opened in Nashville a few weeks ago, coinciding with the publication of her first cookbook, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams At Home. The book, which has made The New York Times bestseller list, explains how to make foolproof versions of Jeni’s fabulous flavors at home. It also reveals a business firmly in step with current food trends: artisanal production and locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients. Bauer will demonstrate recipes and sign copies of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home at Williams-Sonoma in the Mall at Green Hills in Nashville on Thursday, July 21, at 3 p.m.

Soaking Up the Voices

Lee Martin talks with Chapter 16 about telling the stories of people on the margins

By Pablo Tanguay | July 15, 2011

July 15, 2011 A Lee Martin novel combines the fast pacing and suspense of a thriller with the craftsmanship and lyricism of literary fiction. One of Martin’s chief tactics is the drawn-out reveal: his characters cling to their secrets as long as they can, unburdening themselves slowly, layer by layer. In Martin’s fiction, revelation can lead to punishment (prison, retribution, outcasting), but it also, almost always, leads to freedom. We are only as sick, his fiction argues, as our secrets. Lee Martin will appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville. Today he talks with Chapter 16 about his work.

High-Country Song

In his debut work of fiction, Lime Creek, renowned lyricist Joe Henry pays homage to stoic lives molded by the unyielding landscapes of the mountain West

By Ed Tarkington | July 14, 2011

July 14, 2011 Joe Henry has made a career of his gift for penning unforgettable lyrics. He has worked with a variety of artists in multiple genres, from Vince Gill and Garth Brooks to John Denver and Burt Bacharach, and his songs have been recorded by artists as disparate as Frank Sinatra and Rascal Flatts. In Lime Creek, his debut work of fiction, Henry translates his gift for the transcendent insight and the unforgettable turn of phrase into an extended meditation on the lives of a ranching family in the high country of the mountain West.

Shelved

Tennessee’s regional libraries are meeting the “financial squeeze” with radical changes

By Tristan Hickey | July 13, 2011

July 13, 2011 Tennessee’s regional libraries are under strong financial pressure, but that won’t stop the state’s much-anticipated (and criticized) efforts to streamline the system.

Putting a Mustache on the Mona Lisa

Marilyn Kallet discusses the art of translating Benjamin Péret’s great work of Surrealist poetry, The Big Game

By Tristan Hickey | July 13, 2011

July 13, 2011 Marilyn Kallet, Lindsay Young Professor of English at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, has always been interested in Surrealism, but translating Benjamin Péret’s The Big Game has proven the most challenging—and most rewarding—of her forays. Kallet will read from the book on July 17 at 3 p.m. at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville. Also reading will be poets Jeff Daniel Marion and Donna Doyle.

Old Hickory’s Revenge

Steve Berry’s latest thriller puts Andrew Jackson at the center of a historical mystery

By Chris Scott | July 12, 2011

July 12, 2011 For the first time, international best-selling author Steve Berry has set one of his Cotton Malone thrillers in the United States, and it has a Tennessee connection. When Malone sets out to defeat a band of modern-day pirates, he must first decipher a clue left by Andrew Jackson. The Jefferson Key opens with an attack on Old Hickory and rushes at breakneck speed through some of the dimmer recesses of American history, delivering an extra-large order of conspiracy, double-crosses, and wild action.

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