Names and faces
■ The Nashville, Tenn., bookstore that opened and thrived while others were closing their doors is once again defying the odds, thanks, in part, to its famous novelist co-owner. Throughout the pandemic, Ann Patchett has appeared on the Parnassus Books Instagram account, often in a ball gown or cocktail dress (because, as she says, “the alternative was staying in yoga pants for the rest of my life”), to offer charming and compelling book recommendations. How could pandemic-stressed book purchasers resist a read she describes as a “cross between a puppy and a warm bath”? Or how about the book that Patchett’s friend, the nun Sister Nina, says is the best thing she’s read in years. “Author tested, nun approved,” Patchett tells viewers. Parnassus opened in 2011, shortly after two large Nashville bookstores — the once-independent Davis-Kidd and the chain store Borders — shut down in quick succession. After closing the retail store to the public in March, Parnassus accepted a covids-related Small Business Administration loan and hasn’t had to dig into the rainy day fund yet. But Karen Hayes, the Parnassus co-owner who handles the business end of the store, also has no idea when the store will be able to reopen. Parnassus is doing great mail-order and curbside-pickup business, but in normal times, more than 20% of sales comes from events. Still, Hayes says they’ve been able to keep all of their employees on staff at their pre-pandemic salaries and with health insurance.
■ A Moscow judge convicted an acclaimed Russian theater director of embezzling state funds and imposed a three-year suspended sentence Friday in a case widely seen as politically motivated. Kirill Serebrennikov, 50, one of the country’s most prominent theater and film directors, and his associates were found guilty of fraud and embezzling more than $1.8 million of state funding for a theater project. Serebrennikov, who spent almost two years under house arrest, had rejected the accusations as absurd; many in Russia saw the charges as punishment for his anti-establishment views. His productions, ranging from drama to opera and movies, have mocked official lies, corruption and growing social conservatism. During the hearing, the judge, saying that “reformation is possible without a real [prison] term,” gave Serebrennikov and two other defendants suspended sentences, fines and ordered them to repay the embezzled funds. A fourth defendant, former government official Sophia Apfelbaum, was convicted of negligence and fined. The funds were for staging several productions, and investigators initially alleged that the director and his associates stole money through a show that never saw the light of day. In fact, the production was staged to critical acclaim.