The Open Road Blog

According to the Midcontinent Public Library and Based on the Book, more than 1,200 books, novels, short stories, and plays have been made into English language feature films—and that's just since 1980! In fact, all but two of this year's Academy Award Best Picture nominees are based on books including The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Moneyball, and War Horse.  

Of course it's no secret that Hollywood producers and bestselling authors don't always see eye-to-eye when it comes to writing the all-important screenplay adaptation; but with patience, respect, and determination, success—and maybe ...

Today’s featured excerpt for Banned Books Week is Sophie’s Choice by William Styron. William Styron is widely considered one of the preeminent American writers of his generation. First published in 1979, Sophie's Choice is the winner of the 1980 National Book Award. It was also made into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name. The book has been banned from many libraries throughout its publication history. As recently as 2002, the book was pulled from the shelves of the La Mirada High School Library in California by the Norwalk-La Mirada High School District because of a parent's complaint ...

This week’s archival photo features author James Jones at the trailer camp where he worked. It is the site where Jones wrote From Here to Eternity in the late 1940s.

Raised amid the financial and cultural chaos of the Great Depression, Jones joined the army just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. A brief stint away from the army led him to Lowney Handy, the novelist who later became Jones’s confidant and mentor. Honorably discharged with what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Jones entered NYU and commenced his literary journey. He is best known for his second novel, ...

In 1979, Robert Duvall famously portrayed the title character in the movie based on Pat Conroy's novel, The Great Santini. Inspired by author Pat Conroy’s own relationship with his father, The Great Santini is a captivating and unflinching portrayal of modern family life and a moving story of a son becoming a man. Watch both the author and the actor as they discuss the part that earned Duvall his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role—and the man who inspired that role.