A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

The Original

June 25, 2013 In 1936, James Agee wrote an article for Fortune that was never published in the magazine but eventually became his landmark book with photographer Walker Evans, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Presumed lost until it was uncovered in Agee’s papers in 2003, the original article—with a new selection of Evans’s photos—has just been released as Cotton Tenants: Three Families, a graceful and impassioned piece of journalism that powerfully conveys the human cost of a cruel economic system.

Once More from the Lake

June 18, 2013 In Liminal Zones: Where Lakes End and Rivers Begin Kim Trevathan chronicles his kayak and canoe journeys upstream from flatwater, current-less lakes and reservoirs to places where rivers rise above the flooding and come alive. In this book that is both narrative and meditative, Trevathan samples rivers from Massachusetts to California to South Carolina, but he keeps returning to the rivers of Tennessee and Kentucky, his homeland.

When Outlaws Ruled the West End

June 17, 2013 In his new book Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, Michael Streissguth provides an in-depth look at the rise of the outlaw movement, how it changed Nashville, and the formidable talents who led the way. Streissguth will discuss Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 20 at 6:30 p.m.

When Outlaws Ruled the West End

The Epiphany of the Holy and the Absurd

June 12, 2013 Early in his new memoir, Nashville author J.M. Blaine responds with humor when asked about his job as a late-night crisis counselor: “I’ve made tens of dollars in mental health,” he says, pointing to his battered Saturn. But the truth is more complex, and Midnight, Jesus & Me is a powerful work of creative nonfiction that describes Blaine’s own unusual spiritual journey.

A Murdered Brother, Lost and Found

June 11, 2013 Run, Brother, Run traces the split arcs of two brothers’ lives: one a celebrated trial attorney, the other murdered in 1968 by a hired assassin. David Berg will discuss his memoir at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 15, 2013, at 2 p.m.

The Memoir He Said He’d Never Write

June 7, 2013 In a wide-ranging interview with Exclaim!’s Jason Schneider, musician Steve Earle has announced his plans to write a memoir in addition to the novel he already has in progress. “It’s the book I swore I would never write,” he said, explaining that the motivation for changing his mind was clear: “There were a lot of reasons that mainly had to do with money. My little boy has autism, and the school that he just started in last week, finally, is really expensive, and I don’t have that much money,” Earle explained.

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