Books in Nashville

On NPR the other day I heard a feature about author Ann Patchett opening a bookstore in Nashville. One article is found here. The bookstore is called Parnassus Books, and their actual site is here.

(and oh yes, it is Christine Baranski Friday. And entirely unrelated to the subject, here's a picture of her in Obama Icon style to the right)

Christine Baranski Obama icon

In the radio feature, Patchett said why bookstores tend to locate the children's section in the back. She said it is in case the children try to make a break for it, it is harder for them to get out. Whatever the reason, any bookstore I can think of does indeed have the children's section in the back.

I've never read any Ann Patchett books, but I have read several by Anne Tyler. The titles of books by the two authors actually look similar.

Andrew Jackson Hotel- Nashville

I've never been to Nashville, actually. I don't count driving to the airport from the south and skirting the city. I'm not a big country music fan, so Nashville is one of those big cities I have not been to, and don't have a great desire to go to. Elsewhere in Tennessee, I've been to Memphis, though, and I like it a lot and want to go back.

Country singer Tom T Hall wrote of Nashville:

My plane set down in Nashville at a quarter after 2
A little while and I’d be on my way back home to you
While I was waitin’ for my flight, got out and looked around
Nashville is a groovy little town

I met some entertainers and they had an extra girl
I told them I was just a tourist out to see the world
From one place to another, yes we really made the rounds
Nashville is a groovy little town

The postcard view to the right is a mid-20th century linen postcard of the Andrew Jackson Hotel in downtown Nashville. Acccording to this page, it was "...Opened in August of 1925 on the east side of Memorial Plaza on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Deaderick Street. The massive brick structure boasted 400 guest rooms.  In 1971  the hotel was demolished to make room for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the James K. Polk State Office Building.,  I did not bother to look for pictures of the replacing buildings, but I doubt they looked as nice as this stately skyscraper.


And here are some Amazon links for some Ann Pratchett books, and some Ann Tyler books. If you don't have time to get to Nashville and get them at Parnassus...