News & Notes
Remembering Eleanor
Eleanor Ross Taylor is memorialized in a Washington Post obituary and in an essay in Shenandoah
by Margaret Renkl
January 12, 2012 There have been surprisingly few tributes to Eleanor Ross Taylor in the national media during the two weeks since her death: The New York Times, often considered the newspaper of record for books in the United States, still hasn't published a single line about her loss, which would be a shocking omission but for the Gray Lady's undeniable bias against poetry. So it's all the more worth noting the coverage of Taylor's life and literary significance in both The Washington Post and Shenandoah:
Published Thursday, 12 January 2012
Without a Literary Blueprint
Madison Smartt Bell remembers his early days in New York City
by Margaret Renkl
January 10, 2012 "I arrived in New York in 1979, without a literary blueprint," writes Madison Smartt Bell in a new essay for The Millions. "I was a Southern boy, from rural Middle Tennessee (okay, by way of Princeton, I admit). My favorite writers at that time were Dostoevsky and Harry Crews. I didn’t know that a contemporary urban fiction existed."
Published Tuesday, 10 January 2012
"A Refreshingly Honest Story"
Buzz is building for a new children's book by Silas House and Neela Vaswani
by Margaret Renkl
January 5, 2012 Former Harrogate poet and novelist Silas House tends to be published by small literary presses without a huge budget for marketing, but his books always seem to find their way into the national spotlight anyway. Consider what Publisher's Weekly has to say--in a starred review, no less--about Same Sun Here, the new middle-grade novel by House and his coauthor, Neela Vaswani:
Published Thursday, 5 January 2012
The "Laws" of Nature and Other Theories
Alan Lightman explains why what we understand to be true about the universe may not be true in other universes
by Margaret Renkl
December 20, 2011 There are laws, not made by humans but discovered by them, that explain the workings of the universe in perfectly clear, precise terms, notes Memphis native Alan Lightman in a new essay for Harper's:
Published Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Nationally Noted
Tennessee writers are popping up on best-of lists all over the media
by Serenity Gerbman
December 19, 2011 A year ago, the future looked grim for Tennessee bookstore patrons. Beloved stores Carpe Librum in Knoxville and Davis-Kidd in Nashville were closing, and Davis-Kidd in Memphis faced an uncertain future. The Borders chain teetered toward failure, and the e-reader reached its tipping point, becoming one of the most popular holiday gift items. One year later, it’s clear that the physical bookstore is not only alive but possibly even experiencing something of a resurgence—just as Tennessee authors were bringing out some of the biggest books of the year.
Published Monday, 19 December 2011
Annus Mirabilis
With the launch of both a bestselling novel and the most widely-hailed new bookstore in the country, Ann Patchett has had a year of wonders indeed
by Margaret Renkl
December 16, 2011 Last June Ann Patchett and Karen Hayes were only in the earliest planning stages of their new bookstore—which didn’t yet have a location, a staff, or even a name—when Patchett left on a book tour to promote her new novel, State of Wonder. Clearly the store, more a hope and a dream than anything resembling a place of business, was in no way ready to be the subject of a national media blitz, but the timing couldn’t be helped: free publicity is something no independent bookstore is in a position to turn down. According to Patchett’s account in an interview with Chapter 16, she asked Hayes, “Do you want me to talk about this on book tour? I’m going to be doing this media-heavy moment.” Truer words were never spoken.
Published Friday, 16 December 2011
“A Biography Its Subject Deserved”
Critics loved Michael Sims's new biography of E.B. White
by Margaret Renkl
December 15, 2011 Despite the appearance this year of The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime, and the imminent arrival of The Dead Witness, his two most recent forays as an editor, for Michael Sims 2011 was unarguably the year of The Story of Charlotte’s Web. This slim volume—a biography not so much of E.B. White as of the book for which he is best remembered—has found its way onto best-of-the-year lists all over the media, and inspired rhapsodic reviews. Today Chapter 16 surveys the praise:
Published Thursday, 15 December 2011
The Busy Memphian
Author and bookseller Corey Mesler had a very full year
by Maria Browning
December 14, 2011 With four new books published in 2011, including two short-story collections (Notes Toward the Story and Other Stories and I’ll Give You Something to Cry About), a novel (Gardner Remembers) and a volume of poetry (Before the Great Troubling), Memphis author and bookseller Corey Mesler has had a very busy year. Chapter 16 surveys the wealth of his words.
Published Wednesday, 14 December 2011
“Heartbreaking, Searing, and Lyrically Written”
Nashville novelist Ruta Sepetys has had the kind of year every debut novelist dreams of
by Fernanda Moore
December 13, 2011 “I felt a weighty responsibility to get this story right—for history, for my heritage, and for these survivors—especially the survivors,” Ruta Sepetys told Publisher’s Weekly before her debut novel was released. “Because this chapter of history remained secret, no one had ever celebrated their bravery or consoled their regrets.” As a raft of awards and stellar notices has since attested, Sepetys’s message has come through loud and clear. Chapter 16 looks back on a year of raves for Between Shades of Gray.
Published Tuesday, 13 December 2011
“A Page from Chekhov’s Playbook”
This year, Adam Ross’s Ladies and Gentlemen had critics comparing him to the most celebrated practitioners of storytelling
by Margaret Renkl
December 12, 2011 Critics like to compare Nashville novelist Adam Ross to other writers, and not to your average, everyday, ordinary writers, either. Perhaps it’s inevitable that Ross, who is the author of Mr. Peanut (Knopf, 2010) and Ladies and Gentlemen (Knopf, 2011), should inspire the loftiest comparisons, for how often does a debut novelist rack up outrageous accolades in both translation and across the entire English-speaking world, including on the front page of The New York Times Book Review, and then turn in an equally compelling performance with a short-story collection barely a year later? Chapter 16 takes a tour of Ross's reviews this time around.
Published Monday, 12 December 2011
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