Marc Perrusquia’s new book considers the double life of Memphis photographer Ernest Withers
In A Spy in Canaan, Commercial Appeal reporter Marc Perrusquia vastly expands his 2010 front-page bombshell that identified famed civil-rights photographer Ernest Withers as a paid informant for the FBI. Perrusquia will discuss his book at Novel in Memphis on March 27, and at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 5.
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Joel Harrington considers the medieval life of New Age favorite, Meister Eckhart
In Dangerous Mystic, Vanderbilt historian Joel Harrington explores the life of Meister Eckhart, a medieval theologian whose path to God has been embraced by New Age gurus and contemporary self-help writers. Harrington will discuss Dangerous Mystic at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 20 at 6:30 p.m
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Amber Wilson’s For the Love of the South began as a website of the same name
Like many beautiful books these days, Amber Wilson’s For the Love of the South began as a website of the same name—”a place,” she writes, “where I shared my love for the food, characters, and culture that helped shape who I am.” She will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 13 and at Novel in Memphis on March 15.
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Humor and wit are the most sacred virtues in Rami Shapiro’s Holy Rascals
“God is real. Everything we say about God is made up,” writes Rami Shapiro in his new book, Holy Rascals: Advice for Spiritual Revolutionaries. Shapiro will appear at two Nashville events this month: at Parnassus Books on March 14 and at the Scarritt Bennett Center on March 24.
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Robert Gordon’s Memphis Rent Party captures the grit and heart of the blues
Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock & Soul in Music’s Hometown is a fascinating journey through the back alleys and juke joints of Memphis as nonfiction author Robert Gordon searches for musical icons and forgotten heroes. Gordon will appear at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis on March 9, at Earnestine & Hazel’s in Memphis on March 10, and at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 17.
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Julia C. Duin turns up a sordid tale at the fringes of American religion
With ln the House of the Serpent Handler Julia C. Duin depicts the lives of the faithful in Appalachian serpent-handling churches, charting the tragic fall of one its leading lights.
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