The Masculinity Gap
In American Men, Jordan Ritter Conn tracks the lives of four representative souls whose torturous journeys reveal the gap between what men are supposed to be and who they really are.
Nonfiction
The Legacy of an American Griot
In Remembering Roots: How an American Classic Transformed the World, Lucas L. Johnson II sketches the history of Alex Haley’s Roots and its TV adaptation, surveying their impact through commentary from scholars, genealogists, artists, and ordinary people from different walks of life. Johnson will sign and discuss the book at the Z. Alexander Looby Theater in Nashville on June 14.
Explosive Revelations
FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: In Dynamite Nashville, Betsy Phillips plunges into the world of white supremacist violence in Nashville during the civil rights era.
We Hope Again
In On Witness and Respair, a collection of essays and speeches, Jesmyn Ward deals with beauty and ugliness, dread and hope. Ward will discuss the book at Fisk University in Nashville on May 18.
‘One Hell of a News Day’
Otis Sanford’s Newsman: The Road from Route 2 Box 9 surveys the author’s life from a childhood in rural Mississippi to a 50-year career in journalism. Sanford will appear at Bookstock at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis on May 2.
This Little Piggy …
In American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon, Mark A. Johnson examines the complicated 400-year history of what some argue is America’s favorite food — and all the cultural baggage it carries. Johnson will discuss American Bacon at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on April 16.
