An excerpt from Devil’s Dream, June 1854
Madison Smartt Bell is the author of twelve novels, including Ten Indians (Penguin, 1997); All Souls’ Rising (Penguin, 1996), which was a finalist for the 1995 National Book Award and the 1996 PEN/Faulkner Award and was the winner of the 1996 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award; Save Me, Joe Louis (Penguin, 1994); and Doctor Sleep (Penguin, 1992), which was adapted into the 2002 film Close Your Eyes. Bell has an AB from Princeton University and an MA from Hollins University. He has taught in various creative writing programs, including the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars. He has taught at Goucher College since 1984, along with his wife, the poet Elizabeth Spires. He is Director of the Kratz Center for Creative Writing at Goucher College and has been a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers since 2003. The novel Devil's Dream treats the life and career of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. 
Photo by Jared Fischer