Nonfiction | Chapter 16

A Father’s Journey

Journalist Buzz Bissinger shares a haunting, intimate account of his quest to know his special-needs son

By Michael Ray Taylor | August 22, 2012

August 22, 2012 In Buzz Bissinger’s Father’s Day: A Journey into the Mind & Heart of My Extraordinary Son a ten-day road trip across America is the backdrop for a haunting and brutally honest account of a father’s struggle to understand the adult his special-needs child has become. Bissinger, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Friday Night Lights, presents an unforgettable portrait of his son Zach, a cognitively disabled man in his mid-twenties who speaks in nonstop non sequiturs, can name and give the birthday of every person he has ever met, and memorizes maps so accurately that his family refers to him as a “human GPS.” Bissinger will discuss Father’s Day at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

A New Birth of Freedom

Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer reexamines the Emancipation Proclamation

By Chris Scott | August 16, 2012

August 16, 2012 The Emancipation Proclamation is regarded by some as America’s second Declaration of Independence and is denigrated by others as hollow and cynical, a political ploy from a master manipulator. So which is it? Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer asks that question in his latest work, Emancipating Lincoln: The Proclamation in Text, Context, and Memory. Harold Holzer will speak about emancipation at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

What the World Could Be

Sarah VanHooser Suiter writes about the two years she spent learning from the women of Magdalene

By Beth Waltemath | August 10, 2012

August 10, 2012 In her first book, Magdalene House: A Place about Mercy Sarah VanHooser Suiter, writes about the “winding journey of healing and recovery” as she researched a residential community in Nashville for women with histories of addiction and prostitution. The women of Magdalene House envision “the world that could be,” Suiter writes: “a place where people love without judgment, care for their neighbors, support one another regardless of circumstance, and defend human dignity.” Sarah VanHooser Suiter will discuss Magdalene House at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Drop Dead Funny

In pursuing all the health advice he could find, A.J. Jacobs was willing to try almost anything (though he drew the line at yogurt colonics)

By Fernanda Moore | August 9, 2012

August 9, 2012 A.J. Jacobs is “okay looking ridiculous as long as there’s a chance it will lead to something interesting or insightful.” In fact he’s the kind of writer for whom virtually every experience leads to something interesting—and very, very funny. Jacobs is the author of The Know-It-All, for which he read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica, and The Year of Living Biblically, in which he spent a year living by the literal prohibitions of the Bible, including stoning adulterers (with pebbles). His newest book is Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection, which he will discuss at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. In advance of his visit, he took Chapter 16’s Fernanda Moore to a Manhattan health-food restaurant for lunch.

A Bottomless Well of Inspiration

Historian Adam Goodheart explains why the Civil War is like both The Iliad and the Bible

By Clay Risen | August 8, 2012

In his book 1861: The Civil War Awakening, historian and journalist Adam Goodheart presents what he calls a “pointillist” picture of a country on the brink of self-destruction. Through a series of profiles and stories, Goodheart demonstrates how America was both gearing up for an epic conflict and coming to grips with the horror that lay before it—and all the while slowly realizing that whatever happened, it would change the nation forever. He spoke with Chapter 16 by phone prior to his forthcoming appearance at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville.

Carriers, War Birds, and Pilots

Gregory G. Fletcher recreates his father’s experiences before, during, and after the crucial WWII battle that sank the Musashi

By Ralph Bowden | August 6, 2012

August 6, 2012 In Intrepid Aviators, Memphis attorney Gregory G. Fletcher focuses on the Pacific during World War II, providing background details about ships, planes, commanders, and battles. His particular interest, however, is the story of the carrier Intrepid, including a detailed treatment of the torpedo bombers in Squadron 18 and a very personal look at the experiences of his father, Willard Fletcher, one of Squadron 18’s pilots. Will Fletcher launched one of the torpedoes that doomed the huge Musashi battleship. His plane was shot down, and his two crew members were lost, but he managed to survive a harrowing adventure.

Camilla and the Caterpillars

By Frances Figart, illustrated by Matt Brass
Smokies Life
68 pages
$14.95

A young girl’s encounter with an extraordinary caterpillar in the Great Smoky Mountains leads her and her family on a quest to plant a national park right in their own backyard.

This environmentally themed chapter book for ages 6 through 11 introduces young readers to important ecological concepts including habitat loss and the interdependence of native species and offers a compelling grassroots solution through native-plant gardening that invites anyone to take part in addressing the growing biodiversity crisis.

~the publisher