Dispatch 7: Chris Cander and The Weight of a Piano go from Mississippi to Tennessee

February 6, 2019, by

Houston author Chris Cander’s “Dispatches from Book Tour,” a multi-week blog series of reflections and updates along her 17-city U.S. book tour for her new novel The Weight of a Piano (published by Knopf), continues with Dispatch 7 from Mississippi to Tennessee. 

Friday, February 1, 2019

My new friend and sales rep Jess Pearson and I made a pilgrimage to William Faulkner’s grave before starting our road trip from Oxford, Mississippi to Nashville via the peaceful, historical Natchez Trace Parkway. It was a long drive, so we stopped in Collinwood for a cup of coffee and some sugar-free fudge, and then at my editor Gary’s house in Franklin, where I got to see The Weight of a Piano lined up alphabetically next to Peter Carey and Raymond Carver and others on the wall of shelves containing all the books he’s ever edited. Swoon. Continue reading

Houston author Chris Cander and The Weight of a Piano go to Oxford, Mississippi

February 5, 2019, by

Houston author Chris Cander’s “Dispatches from Book Tour,” a multi-week blog series of reflections and updates along her 17-city U.S. book tour for her new novel The Weight of a Piano (published by Knopf), continues with Dispatch 6 from Oxford, Mississippi. 

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Oxford, Mississippi is a true gem, “the cultural mecca of the South.” We stopped at the home of Richard and Lisa Howorth, owners of the renowned Square Books, where we’ll spend the night. I can already tell I want to be friends with them forever. (Gary and Richard and I were feeling the love for The Weight of a Piano in store’s Valentine’s Day-themed window display!) Over lunch at Proud Larry’s, I learned about Oxford’s literary history, including the fact that theirs is the only town square in the south with four bookstores. Continue reading