When photojournalist Rob Amberg began work on his latest book, The New Road (The Center for American Places, 2009), he admits that he was "pretty decidedly against" the nine-mile section of I-26 that recently paved a swath through rural Madison County. And the photos, prose and interviews Amberg captured do detail the destruction in the […]

Dress up or just slap on a mask, grab your biggest trick-or-treat bag and head out — there are entertainment options for every age and persuasion of Halloween-celebrating ghost, goblin or fairy princess. Xpress tracked down four days' worth of plays, parties, bike rides, concerts, tours, carnivals, family-friendly gatherings and adult-specific indulgences. Start noshing on […]

When award-winning author Barbara Kingsolver was searching for the perfect place to set the American scenes of her new novel, The Lacuna (Harper, 2009), she considered D.C. and Virginia. Then, "It hit me that Asheville was perfect," she tells Xpress. Photo by Annie Griffiths Belt. Because of its long history as a tourist town, Asheville […]