Book review
“Bloodroot”
Amy Greene
Knopf, $24.95, 304 pp.
Meet the author
7:15 p.m. Wed.. Jan. 20 Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur Public Library, 215 Sycamore St. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225, www.georgiacenterforthebook.org.

7 p.m., Thu., Jan. 21 FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., No. 138, Woodstock. 770-516-9989, www.foxtalebookshoppe.com.

By Gina Webb
If “Wuthering Heights” had been set in southern Appalachia, it might have taken place on Bloodroot Mountain, where Amy Greene’s debut novel by the same name unfolds. Brooding, dark and beautifully imagined, “Bloodroot” tells the story of a young girl raised in a family blessed with second sight. When she falls in love with a boy from off the mountain, his murderous passion for her comes close to destroying everything in its path.
Greene, a native of eastern Tennessee who grew up in the foothills of the Great Smokies, has filled her book with the sights and sounds — and the “granny women,” or healers — …

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"Avenue X" cast members (from left) Nick Spangler, J.D. Goldblatt, Lawrence Clayton, J.D. Webster and Steve French rehearse at the Woodruff Arts Center.

Theater preview
“Avenue X”
Previews Tue. Jan 19. Opens Wed., Jan 20. Through Feb. 7. $25-$60.
Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Midtown. 404-733-5000, www.alliancetheatre.org.

By Wendell Brock
“Avenue X” is a story of racial integration, told from the point of view of doo-wop music. Set in Brooklyn in 1963 and based on the historic clash between Italian-Americans and the black newcomers to the neighborhood, it distills the musical traditions of both sides of the street.
What happens when an Italian-American trio loses a singer and picks an African-American replacement so it can compete in a singing competition? Such an incident would mean nothing today, but back in the ’60s, it packed the potential for violence and bloodshed.
First produced off-Broadway in 1994 and arriving Wednesday at …

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Glenn Kotche

Concert preview
Bang on a Can with Glenn Kotche
8 p.m. Jan. 22. $20-$50. Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, 1700 N. Decatur Road, on the Emory campus, 404-727-5050, arts.emory.edu.

By Pierre Ruhe
The most vibrant corner of the classical music scene today is not very traditional and not even comfortable with the loaded term “classical.” As a compromise, we might call the style “alt-classical,” where one leading troupe — New York’s Bang on a Can — draws eclectic musicians from all over the map, in geography and musical attitudes.
The Bang on a Can All-Stars perform Jan. 22 at Emory University’s Schwartz Center. The show’s headliner is the embodiment of the Bang on a Can ethos: Glenn Kotche, the drummer of indie-roots-rock band Wilco, who is a conservatory-trained percussionist, an imaginative performer and, increasingly, a noted composer. Two of his most admired works, “Snap” and “Mobile,” are on the program.
“Playing with Bang on a Can …

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Bedbug by Joshua Dudley Greer

Gallery review
“Picturing Home”
Through Jan. 29. Noon-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. (Jan. 8-10, by
appointment.) Emory Visual Arts Gallery, 700 Peavine Creek Drive.
404-727-6315.  www. visualarts.emory.edu.

By Catherine Fox

“Home” is one of those four-letter words that can mean a lot of things.
One family’s sanctum of domestic tranquility and emotional comfort is another’s prison of suffering and alienation. There’s home as architecture: the body that houses the spirit, the housing that builds neighborhoods and cities. And, especially notable in a year of foreclosures and the swelling ranks in temporary shelters, there’s home as a symbol of economic woe and personal loss.
Twenty-six artists from across the country demonstrate the concept’s elasticity in “Picturing Home,” an engaging exhibition at the Emory Visual Arts Gallery. Part of the gallery’s yearlong focus on photography, it is the only juried exhibition of the series. …

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The 18th Day (Tenant Rumor) by Bryce Hammond

Visual arts review
“A Tale of Two Cities”
Alan Avery Art Company. Through Jan 16. 315 E. Paces Ferry Road. 404-237-0370. www.alanaveryartcompany.com.

By Catherine Fox

“A Tale of Two Cities” is a good title for the two-man exhibit at Alan Avery Art Company.
It applies on a literal level: Maxx Morgan’s paintings depict Atlanta; Bryce Hammonds’ works are set in Brooklyn. But it also works as a reference to the Charles Dickens novel of that title, whose memorable opening is a series of oppositions (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times‚”), as are these artists’ visions.
Morgan’s Atlanta is dynamic and glamorous. His views of the city are invariably night scenes. Many of them portray the downtown skyline, a shimmering Oz silhouetted against a jet black background, and the expressway as a river of headlights coursing through it.
The Atlanta artist is clearly enamored of light effects, from the drama of …

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