Book Reviews (69 Reviews)

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Tig Hague's Tomorrow You Go Home is a harrowing tale of life in a Russian gulag Tig Hague's Tomorrow You Go Home is a harrowing tale of life in a Russian gulag
There's a kind of arrogance that sometimes goes hand in hand with innocence—an unworldly certainty that good intentions will always be... More>>
By Maria Browning
Published: December 25, 2008
Words in Air, the new collection of letters between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, captures a friendship in poetry Words in Air, the new collection of letters between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, captures a friendship in poetry
Among the annual lists of "best poetry books of the year," there's one title that may be missing, though it was written by two of the defining... More>>
By Diann Blakely
Published: December 25, 2008
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga unveils the real The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga unveils the real "New India": corrupt, impenetrable and darkly comic
Media coverage of recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai brought the divide between elite and ordinary Indians into sharp relief. The White Tiger by... More>>
By Paul V. Griffith
Published: December 18, 2008
In What now?, Ann Patchett offers wisdom for the journey In What now?, Ann Patchett offers wisdom for the journey
It's hard to imagine a hokier looking book than Ann Patchett's What now? (HarperCollins, 112 pp., $14.95), a gift book for graduates or,... More>>
By Margaret Renkl
Published: December 18, 2008
In Tycoon's War, Stephen Dando-Collins chronicles a brutal American conflict In Tycoon's War, Stephen Dando-Collins chronicles a brutal American conflict
William Walker, Nashville's native son, might well have become the emperor of Central America in the years prior to the Civil War if he had not... More>>
By Maria Browning
Published: December 11, 2008
In The Future's So Bright I Can't Bear to Look, Tom Tomorrow takes on the most religious nation west of Iran In The Future's So Bright I Can't Bear to Look, Tom Tomorrow takes on the most religious nation west of Iran
Why does Tom Tomorrow hate America? Yes, that chardonnay-sipping, hybrid-driving cartoonist is at it again. Why hasn't the creator of "This... More>>
By Michael Sims
Published: December 11, 2008
It's not his book, but Harry Bosch reappears in Michael Connelly's The Brass Verdict
Michael Connelly, long known for his highly regarded police procedurals featuring Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch, has returned with a criminal defense... More>>
By Wayne Christeson
Published: December 11, 2008
In American Lion, Jon Meacham Celebrates Andrew Jackson's Legacy In American Lion, Jon Meacham Celebrates Andrew Jackson's Legacy
As Barack Obama prepares to bring change to the country, he often cites Abraham Lincoln as his inspiration, even quoting Lincoln's first... More>>
By Chris Scott
Published: December 04, 2008
An Outrageous Narrator Takes on History in Yazoo Blues, John Pritchard's Wickedly Brilliant Second Novel An Outrageous Narrator Takes on History in Yazoo Blues, John Pritchard's Wickedly Brilliant Second Novel
The Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin wrote that the novel, like the medieval carnival, allowed a "special type of communication impossible in... More>>
By Michael Ray Taylor
Published: December 04, 2008
In Worlds of Sound, Richard Carlin Celebrates Moses Asch and Folkways Records In Worlds of Sound, Richard Carlin Celebrates Moses Asch and Folkways Records
As a youngster, Moses Asch told Albert Einstein that he wanted to be a mathematician. Reportedly, the physicist instead recommended a career in... More>>
By Paul V. Griffith
Published: November 27, 2008
Sarah Vowell Discovers the Real Legacy of the Puritans in The Wordy Shipmates Sarah Vowell Discovers the Real Legacy of the Puritans in The Wordy Shipmates
The Wordy Shipmates (Riverhead Books, 272 pp., $25.95), Sarah Vowell's latest wisecracking stroll through American history, has been released... More>>
By Maria Browning
Published: November 27, 2008
In Alphabet Juice, Roy Blount Jr. Proves Himself a Wordsmith for the Ages In Alphabet Juice, Roy Blount Jr. Proves Himself a Wordsmith for the Ages
One day when I was four years old and my sister just three, I saw her pick up the biggest book in the house and begin to read aloud. "Mama, come... More>>
By Michael Ray Taylor
Published: November 20, 2008
Nashville author Ronald Kidd's young adult novel, On Beale Street, revisits the despair and hope of 1950s Memphis Nashville author Ronald Kidd's young adult novel, On Beale Street, revisits the despair and hope of 1950s Memphis
Nashville author Ronald Kidd clearly believes that rock music helped end segregation. While he may not be alone in that belief, he stands out in... More>>
By Chris Scott
Published: November 20, 2008
In The House at Sugar Beach, Journalist Helene Cooper Makes the Most of Memoir In The House at Sugar Beach, Journalist Helene Cooper Makes the Most of Memoir
For more than a decade, book editors have been in love with the memoir. The genre seems to offer a more intimate perspective on our times, not to... More>>
By Pete Kotz
Published: November 20, 2008
With Serena, Ron Rash Crafts a Harrowing Tale of Depression-Era Appalachia With Serena, Ron Rash Crafts a Harrowing Tale of Depression-Era Appalachia
George Pemberton arrives at the train station in Waynesville, N.C., with his new bride Serena. Through the window he sees Rachel Harmon, the teen... More>>
By Pete Kotz
Published: November 13, 2008
Lorraine Lopez Hits Book-Club Gold With The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters Lorraine Lopez Hits Book-Club Gold With The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters
The four Gabaldón sisters are not the luckiest girls in the world. Their mother is dead, and Fermina, their Pueblo caretaker, is also... More>>
By Faye Jones
Published: November 13, 2008
Alice Schroeder Turns Up No Dirt in The Snowball, a New Biography of Warren Buffett Alice Schroeder Turns Up No Dirt in The Snowball, a New Biography of Warren Buffett
"There is always something," Gov. Willie Stark famously asserts in Robert Penn Warren's 1948 novel All the King's Men. Everyone has a past.... More>>
By Joel Rice
Published: November 13, 2008
Tell Me a Story Tell Me a Story
Local readings this week range from the sublime to the heartrending to the purely fluffy
GORDON PEERMAN The Colbert Report recently featured a preacher exhorting his Christian God to use the presidential election to prove His... More>>
Published: November 06, 2008
Turning a Jail Cell into a Meditation Room Turning a Jail Cell into a Meditation Room
Becca Stevens takes the Benedictine Rule to prison
Find Your Way Home: Words From the Street, Wisdom From the Heart, a modest new book published by Abingdon Press, was written, according to the... More>>
By Kay WEst
Published: October 30, 2008
Out of the Pulp Pile Out of the Pulp Pile
Crime writer Dennis Lehane graduates from genre fiction
No one ever tapped Dennis Lehane for the throne of Great American Writer. He wrote serial detective stories and solid commercial fiction ranging... More>>
By Pete Kotz
Published: October 30, 2008
Shut Up and Drive Shut Up and Drive
Operating a moving vehicle is a lot more complicated than it seems
For most people, driving a car is as automatic as brushing our teeth. But like much of the taken-for-granted world, commanding an automobile... More>>
By Paul V. Griffith
Published: October 30, 2008
Counter-Revolution Counter-Revolution
How evangelicals took the fun out of sex
One of the core beliefs of the Religious Right is that fundamentalists represent a great silent majority, particularly when it comes to sexual... More>>
By Maria Browning
Published: October 23, 2008
Tracing Music City's Family Tree Tracing Music City's Family Tree
New book chronicles a musical tradition that long predates the Opry
In Nashville Music Before Country (Arcadia, 128 pp., $19.99), Tim Sharp, dean of fine arts at Rhodes College and author of Memphis Music Before... More>>
By Lacey Galbraith
Published: October 23, 2008
Death on Deadline Death on Deadline
A prizewinning journalist sets his new thriller in the newsroom
The assistant managing editor of The New York Globe is found murdered on the copy room floor, with an editor's "kill" spike stuck in his heart.... More>>
By Wayne Christeson
Published: October 23, 2008
God of the Slide Guitar God of the Slide Guitar
A biography of Duane Allman stirs rock memories
Every suburban neighborhood has one: a garage band of teenagers who practice on the weekend at decibel levels sure to get the cops called. In my... More>>
By Michael Ray Taylor
Published: October 16, 2008
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