Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Andrew Sean Greer talks with Chapter 16 about finding his way into a story
From the Chapter 16 archive: “Doubt is essential to the writing life,” Andrew Sean Greer says. “If you only had arrogance, you’d write a book that’s all ego.”
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In Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s historical novel, a Tennessee root doctor looks for a way to treat suffering after the Civil War
From the Chapter 16 archive: In Balm, Dolen Perkins-Valdez investigates the possibilities of healing the personal and national trauma caused by the Civil War.
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Tim Gautreaux talks with Chapter 16 about his story collection, Signals
From the Chapter 16 archive: Chattanooga-area novelist Tim Gautreaux talks about the pitfalls of regionalism, the influence of James Dickey and Flannery O’Connor, the challenges of writing short fiction, and the imperatives of religious faith.
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My Year Abroad traces an ordinary young man’s journey to a weird hell and back
My Year Abroad, Chang-rae Lee’s sixth novel, is an exuberant — and strange — coming-of-age tale. Lee will discuss the book with Ann Patchett at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 19.
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Alan Gratz’s Ground Zero contrasts the terrors of 9/11 with a day in war-torn Afghanistan
In Ground Zero, possibly his most heart-wrenching middle-grade book yet, Knoxville native Alan Gratz weaves the terror of 9/11 and the pain of the ongoing war in Afghanistan into a story whose relentless pace and nonstop suspense ensure readers feel every bit of it. Gratz will discuss Ground Zero at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 12.
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Erica Waters’ Ghost Wood Song is a suspenseful story about grief, bravery, and growing up
In Nashville writer Erica Waters’ debut novel, Ghost Wood Song, a riveting coming-of-age thriller, Shady Grove sets out on a quest to unearth her family’s most sinister secrets so that she can finally lay the past to rest and protect the ones still living. Waters will appear at the 2020 Southern Festival of Books, held online October 1-11.
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