A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

The Purposes of a Ghost

When eleven-year-old Marcus—the narrator of Gail Godwin’s latest novel—arrives at his new home on an island off the South Carolina coast, the secrets crowding his young life show no signs of letting up. Godwin will discuss Grief Cottage at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 12 at 6:30 p.m.

Sympathetic Snark

The plot of Touch unfolds in a near future that might actually arrive next week—the perfect backdrop for Courtney Maum’s protagonist, a trend forecaster whose livelihood depends on predicting exactly what consumers will want to buy next. Maum will discuss the novel at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on June 9 at 6 p.m.

Make a Mess of Things

Best known for his debut novel, Big Fish, Daniel Wallace is a master of wit and whimsy, gleaning both wonder and absurdity from the commonplace. In Extraordinary Adventures, Wallace delivers a modern variation on the picaresque, replete with madcap hijinks. He will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Consciousness and Chaos

In Behind the Moon, Madison Smartt Bell takes readers on a complex, hallucinatory tour of human and animal consciousness in the course of a story about a mother’s search for her lost daughter.

Gut Reaction

A young scientist navigates the big questions of career, family, and self in the luminous debut novel, Chemistry, by Weike Wang. On June 1 at Parnassus Books in Nashville, Wang will join Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers, in a conversation moderated by Ann Patchett.

ICE Breaker

In Lisa Ko’s new novel, The Leavers, a Chinese-American worker disappears from the life of her eleven-year-old son, who is subsequently adopted by a white couple. Ko will join Weike Wang, author of Chemistry, in a conversation moderated by Ann Patchett. The event will take place at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 1 at 6:30 p.m.

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