Fiction | Chapter 16

Dictated by Daemons

By Maria Browning

December 7, 2011

December 7, 2011 With his novels about both the Haitian Revolution and the Confederate anti-hero Nathan Bedford Forrest, Madison Smartt Bell made an art of writing about violence. His latest novel, The Color of Night, takes that art to a new level with its depiction of a solitary, unrepentant killer who happens to be a woman. The book provoked controversy for its subject matter and for Bell’s unusual creative process. Today Chapter 16 offers a roundup of the discussion, including Bell’s own thoughts about his work.

"Completely in Control of His Entrancing Narrative"

By Margaret Renkl

December 2, 2011

December 2, 2011 The story of two performance artists, Camille and Caleb Fang, and their adult-but-dysfunctional children, Annie and Buster, Kevin Wilson’s The Family Fang is at once a family drama, a series of laugh-out-loud set pieces that parody the self-involvement of artists, a scathing indictment of the culture of celebrity, and a deeply moving examination of the ways in which our families shape (and warp) us. Critics quickly lined up behind the book, which promptly became a New York Times bestseller and ended up in the movie-making hands of Nicole Kidman. No wonder The Guardian called it “an experience, rather than a mere read.” Today Chapter 16 sums up the critical response to Kevin Wilson’s smash hit.

“Completely in Control of His Entrancing Narrative”

By Margaret Renkl

December 2, 2011

December 2, 2011 The story of two performance artists, Camille and Caleb Fang, and their adult-but-dysfunctional children, Annie and Buster, Kevin Wilson’s The Family Fang is at once a family drama, a series of laugh-out-loud set pieces that parody the self-involvement of artists, a scathing indictment of the culture of celebrity, and a deeply moving examination of the ways in which our families shape (and warp) us. Critics quickly lined up behind the book, which promptly became a New York Times bestseller and ended up in the movie-making hands of Nicole Kidman. No wonder The Guardian called it “an experience, rather than a mere read.” Today Chapter 16 sums up the critical response to Kevin Wilson’s smash hit.

The Other Scarlet Letter

By Fernanda Moore

November 28, 2011

November 28, 2011 As When She Woke opens, Hannah Payne is Hawthorne’s scarlet “A” incarnate: “When she woke, she was red. Not flushed, not sunburned, but the solid, declarative red of a stop sign.” In Hillary Jordan’s imaginary near-future, criminals are “chromed”—genetically modified to make their skin colors match their transgressions—and Hannah Payne’s crime begins with the letter A. Jordan will read from and sign copies of When She Woke on November 30 at 6 p.m. at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis.

Social Justice, Good Ol’ Girl Style

By Margaret Renkl

November 22, 2011

November 22, 2011 On December 1, Matraca Berg, Marshall Chapman, Jill McCorkle, and Lee Smith will present “An Evening of Story and Song”—a more intimate, more improvisational version of their off-Broadway show, Good Ol’ Girls—to Nashville’s Belcourt Theatre. The show is a benefit for The Center for Contemplative Justice at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Chapel at Vanderbilt University, the newest initiative of St. Augustine’s chaplain, Becca Stevens. Last month Stevens was named a “Champion for Change” by the White House for her work with Magdalene and Thistle Farms. Chapter 16 recently interviewed all four Good Ol’ Girls creators about their unique collaboration—and their support for Stevens:

True Romance

By Paul V. Griffith

November 21, 2011

November 21, 2011 In her new novel, Kingsport native Lisa Alther uses as a plot device the racial and familial intermarriage that was once common in the Appalachians. Combining the factual relevance of a history book with the intrigue and passion of a romance novel, Washed in the Blood follows the descendants of Diego Martin, a sixteenth-century hog drover abandoned by a Spanish expeditionary party. As centuries pass––and Spanish, English, Portuguese, African, and Native American blood becomes increasingly intermingled––successive generations of Martins struggle with notions of identity and the fickle nature of love.