Writing for the City
Otis Sanford tells a lively history of power and race in From Boss Crump to King Willie, a political history of twentieth-century Memphis, bookended by two towering figures: E.H. Crump and W.W. Herenton.
Nonfiction
The Dark Web
Jonathan Taplin visits City Winery in Nashville to discuss his new book, Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy, which deconstructs the libertarian ideological underpinnings of Silicon Valley tech culture. Taplin will also discuss his work on the rock documentary The Last Waltz, which he executive produced.
The Greatest Miracle
In her new book, Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy, Anne Lamott is on the same page as Shakespeare when it comes to mercy, believing that it “blesseth him that gives and him that takes” and, frankly, that we all need a lot more of it. Lamott will discuss her new book, Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy, at First Presbyterian Church in Knoxville on April 9 at 7 p.m.
American Tragedy
Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War, a new work of narrative history by Daniel J. Sharfstein, vividly portrays a bloody conflict and its leaders, in the process offering new insight into the enduring power of dissent. Sharfstein will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Giving Birth to Ourselves
In A Second Blooming: Becoming the Women We Are Meant to Be, Memphis writer Susan Cushman has compiled an anthology dedicated to female empowerment. Cushman and four Memphis contributors will read from and sign copies of the book at the Memphis Botanic Garden on March 26 at 3 p.m.
Begin Again
In Erik Anderson’s new essay collection, Flutter Point, the author’s curiosity and willingness to lean into hybrid forms leads to an investigation of swerves, collapses, and new beginnings. Anderson will read from the book at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville on March 23 at 8 p.m.
