Abundant Goodness
A Committed Conservative
She’s on the Bird
Good Sport
Obsessed with Understanding
Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby
Menu
Search

Nuanced Noir

Ace Atkins’s historical thriller follows George “Machine Gun” Kelly on a kidnap caper gone wrong

By Michael Ray Taylor |

April 26, 2010 In summer 2008, Ace Atkins, author of three previous thrillers based on historical events, was in Memphis researching a new book. While he was at the courthouse one day, a clerk mentioned having stumbled across the file of George “Machine Gun” Kelly, who was arrested in South Memphis in 1933 after a nation-wide manhunt by the fledgling Federal Bureau of Investigation. Atkins was intrigued and asked for a copy of the file. By the time he was finished reading, he had set aside the novel he was working on in favor of what would become Infamous, a cinematic true story that reads like classic film noir with a dash of Coen brothers. Atkins will read from the book at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis on April 26 at 6 p.m.

Read more

Huck Twin

The heroine of Kristin O’Donnell Tubb’s debut children’s novel can stir up a mess of trouble

By Lacey Galbraith |

April 23, 2010 Autumn Winifred Oliver is eleven years old. She fidgets, speaks her mind, and has a talent for drawing. Her neighbors call her “rascally,” “rampageous,” and “up to no good,” but Autumn can’t help it; she’s restless, and most of all—as her creator, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, clearly states in the title of this charming debut novel—Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different.

Read more

Oprah's Top 10

The world’s best handseller picks her Top 10 of the decade

By Serenity Gerbman |

April 23, 2010 Somewhere in the back of the minds of most book lovers, there is probably a little corner labeled “Dream Jobs.” And among those jobs is the one that may not even really exist, but we like to think it exists, which is to sort through all of the books that come flooding daily into the offices of Harpo Enterprises. And, you know, take home the ones that look interesting. And read them. For Oprah.

Read more

Roy and the Remainders

Roy Blount Jr. tours for a good cause

By Margaret Renkl |

April 22, 2010 Humorist and Vandy grad Roy Blount Jr., who is known both for his writing and for his NPR appearances on shows like Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me and A Prairie Home Companion, is on tour with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a garage band made up of bestselling writers Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, Matt Groening, James McBride, and Mitch Albom. The band, founded in the early nineties, performs only once a year, on average, and not always with the same cast.

Read more

So Long, Silas

Kentucky lures Silas House back to his home state with a plum of an appointment

By Margaret Renkl |

April 22, 2010 Bestselling author Silas House will leave Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate to accept the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair in Appalachian Studies at Berea College, beginning in August.

Read more

Beyond the Powwow

Joy Harjo talks with Chapter 16 about poetry, the planet, and how Avatar is just Dances With Wolves in a blue body suit

By Serenity Gerbman |

April 22, 2010 Although best known for the poems that first introduced her to the creative world, Joy Harjo is an artist in diverse media: music, screenwriting, children’s literature, and poetry. A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, Harjo offers a powerful voice for the disenfranchised. Rather than seeming pigeonholed by her Native American background, however, Harjo draws upon archetypal myths and legends as tools to demonstrate the individual’s connection with the land and with other humans. She answered questions from Chapter 16 prior to two Nashville appearances on April 23.

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