The Open Road Blog

Your favorite show was on television. You had to walk the dog. You read the Cliff's Notes (or the review in the New York Times) and got the gist. And somehow, you never managed to actually read the book.

But when someone asks you about Bestseller X or Classic Novel Y at a dinner party, you fumble your way through the conversation and nod knowingly, right?

We consider ourselves smart, moderately well read folks. We’ve all got books that we meant to read—but just haven't gotten around to yet. We’ve got the best of intentions, but somehow there are ...

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 ...

“A powerful, moving novel that probes the heart of man’s most heartless activity—war.”

—Chicago Sunday Tribune

On December 20, 2011, Open Road Integrated Media will publish The Thin Red Line by iconic author James Jones, best known for his novel From Here to Eternity. Jones is regarded as one of the most successful American authors from the World War II generation. Fellow celebrated author Norman Mailer, called Jones “the only one of my contemporaries who I felt had more talent than myself.” Jones’s experiences serving in the US Army from 1939 to 1944 influenced a number of ...

On November 29, 2011, Open Road Integrated Media will publish Some Came Running by the late James Jones (1921–1977). Recognized as “one of the significant writers of his generation” by The New York Times, Jones is best known as the author of From Here to Eternity, which was reissued by Open Road Media earlier this year. The restored novel, which included previously censored scenes and dialogue, met with great acclaim.

After the blockbuster international success of From Here to Eternity, ...

In celebration of Veterans Day, we honor Open Road Media authors and their families who spent time in the service.

Before World War II began, James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity and the newly published To the End of the War, served in the U.S. Army in Hawaii. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, which Jones witnessed, he was sent to Guadalcanal, site of some of the deadliest jungle fighting of the Pacific Theater. He distinguished himself in battle, at one point killing an enemy soldier barehanded, and was awarded a bronze star for his bravery. ...

There is an interesting article on the works (and women) of H.G. Wells in this week's New Yorker. "Wells sincerely believed in sexual frankness and women's liberation, at a time when Victorian chastity was curdling into a burdensome hypocrisy." The article speaks to H.G. Wells' relationships with (many) women, including biographer, journalist, feminist, essayist, critic, and otherwise famous figure Rebecca West. West's disdainful 1911 review of H.G. Wells' novel Marriage elicited both ire and an invitation to lunch from the author—a meeting that resulted in a love affair with the married Wells. Read more about Rebecca West and ...

On October 11, 2011, Open Road Integrated Media will publish To the End of the War: Unpublished Fiction by the late James Jones (1921–1977). Recognized as “one of the significant writers of his generation” by the New York Times, Jones is best known as the author of From Here to Eternity, which was reissued to great acclaim, with previously censored scenes and dialogue, by Open Road earlier this year.

To the End of the War contains twelve never-before-published stories by James Jones. Edited and with introductory material by George Hendrick, stories in To the End of the ...

No need to be entering the classroom yourself to stock up on great literature! Here's our back to school sale for grown-ups. These titles are $3.99 and up through September 13. Whether you like short stories, memoirs, suspense, experimental fiction, or more, we've got a title for you! (And if you are looking for our children's sale, here it is!)

Georgia Boy by Erskine Caldwell

Fourteen stories that follow a young boy coming of age in a dysfunctional family in the rural South. Meet William Stroop, a young son of the South whose charming voice and mordant observations of family and culture ...

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, ...

This year for Father's Day we put together several original videos featuring interviews with the sons and daughters of Open Road authors. This week's archival photos continue our celebration of fatherhood. We invite you to flip through the photo album below to see candid photos of Open Road authors with their children or their own fathers.

Open Road Media wishes you a wonderful Father's Day weekend.

To celebrate, we’ve assembled four original videos featuring insightful commentary about growing up with literary fathers from the sons and daughters of Andre Dubus, Stanley Elkin, William Styron, Terry Southern, John Gardner, and James Jones. Catch glimpses of these great twentieth century literary giants through the eyes of their children, listen to tales of their filial devotion and love, and discover what these men were like in their ordinary lives.

Literary Fathers: Gardner, Elkin, Southern, Styron

Literary Fathers: James Jones and Andre Dubus

 ...

Open Road Media announces the ebook publication of seven titles by legendary novelist James Jones, on May 10, 2011.

Jones’s literary debut, From Here to Eternity, became an international bestseller and Academy Award–winning film following its publication in 1951. It earned Jones the National Book Award and established him as a leading American author of the World War II generation. Now, for the first time, previously censored scenes and dialogue have been restored to the text of From Here to Eternity. The Restored Edition includes never-before-seen passages that were cut from the original manuscript, including those containing ...

Personally, I was very excited to see this: A Spanish company is starting what can only be described as "Netflix for Books," launching later this summer. Also, Amazon to start Kindle Library Lending Program with Overdrive.—Pablo

This week in The Guardian, David Thomson writes about the movies of Terrence Malick and the anticipation surrounding the release of his latest film The Tree of Life. Malick is one of my favorite contemporary American directors and, like countless others, I'm anxious to see The Tree of Life. The movie is set to open May 4 in the U.K., but there ...

Remember producing spin art at childhood carnivals (and, if you were really fancy, with your in-home toy set)? Claire O'Neill's NPR piece, "How Sound Can Create Sculpture," tapped into my fondest paint memories this week. Dentsu London—the creative agency behind last year's iPad light painting video—has merged music, paint, and photography to create Water Figures. "Water Figures are sculpted by the action of sound waves which eject water based paints into the air from the surface of a rubber membrane (balloon) placed over the front of a small speaker like those used for computers," explains Linden Gledhill, the biochemist/photographer who ...