Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Embrace the Badness

In The Hearts of Men, Nickolas Butler stages the trials of Boy Scout camp

The title of Nickolas Butler’s new novel, The Hearts of Men, points directly to its thematic core: set at a Boy Scout camp in Wisconsin, the book tells the intertwined stories of two camp families over three generations. Butler will discuss The Hearts of Men at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 16 at 6:30 p.m.

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Taken at the Flood

In We Are Water, Wally Lamb unwinds the tangled threads that hold families together through fire and flood

Wally Lamb’s fifth novel, We Are Water, is a testament to the fact that families can survive almost anything thrown at them—murder, abuse, abandonment—if love remains. Lamb will appear in conversation with songwriter Mary Gautier on March 11 at Green Door Gourmet in Nashville in a benefit event for the Porch Writers’ Collective. 

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Freedom from the Ordinary

Maggie Shipstead’s Astonish Me illuminates the ballet world’s relentless pursuit of perfection

The ballet dancers in Maggie Shipstead’s novel, Astonish Me, are engaged in a daily war against their mortal limitations. Shipstead will discuss Astonish Me at the John C. Hodges Library at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on March 6 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

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Undertow

Michael Knight’s Eveningland centers on life in and around Mobile Bay

Eveningland, the new collection of linked stories by Knoxville writer Michael Knight, focuses closely on the lives of affluent families in and around Mobile Bay. Knight will discuss Eveningland at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on March 7 and at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 8.

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Like Father, Like Daughter

Dana Chamblee Carpenter reminds readers that you can’t pick your family

It’s no picnic being the daughter of Satan, especially if you’re disinclined toward evil. Just ask Mouse, the 700-year-old protagonist of The Devil’s Bible, the new novel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter. Carpenter will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 9 at 6:30 p.m.

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Beauty in the Unknown

Setting Free the Kites, Alex George’s new novel, tackles friendship and loss

In his second acclaimed novel, Setting Free the Kites, Alex George creates a pair of teenage protagonists facing wrenching grief. George will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville at 6:30 p.m. on March 3.

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