The Open Road Blog

On October 11, 2011, Open Road Integrated Media will publish To the End of the War: Unpublished Fiction by the late James Jones (1921–1977).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 ...

Editor’s Note: Richelle Mead speaks out on behalf of Banned Books Week. Richelle Mead is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Read more about her books here.

People have banned books for various reasons throughout human history. Sometimes it's offense over language, violence, or sexual content. Sometimes it's because books put out messages that challenge governments, religion, or other societal ideas. Whatever the reason behind it, banning books is still a type of censorship; it takes away someone's choice to read the book and make up his ...

This week's archival photo shows the highly regarded mystery novelist Don Winslow during his teenage years. Winslow, the son of a librarian and a naval officer, inherited a love of written and oral storytelling from both of his parents. Growing up in coastal Rhode Island, he took full advantage of his parents' expansive library and often listened to his father swap stories with his naval buddies. He traces his desire to become a writer back to these formative experiences.

Like many writers, Winslow had a tough time getting started. As he explains in a recent video, he moved to ...

Here's what publishers and readers need to know about BookLamp, "a new way to discover new books, using the full text of a book to match readers to books based on writing style."—Libby

Courtesy of Arts & Letters Daily, here is a piece about Albert Barnes, the highly intelligent, intensely proud, and noble art collector, who, over the course of his lifetime, amassed a 30 billion dollar trove of work by some of the world's greatest artists. In an act of defiance against the Philadelphia art world, Barnes purposely exhibited the collection in a small suburban setting ...

This week’s photo shows Bradford Morrow talking with James Laughlin (1914 - 1997), the legendary publisher of New Directions. Morrow’s work is heavily influenced by many of the modernist authors that Laughlin kept in print.

Like Laughlin, Morrow has been an important figure in the New York literary community. As the founding editor of the experimental literary journal Conjunctions, Morrow has been responsible for publishing works by many neglected writers. Morrow in fact began the magazine to honor Laughlin’s legacy. Morrow is also the author six novels, numerous short stories, essays, poetry collections and children’s books. For the past ...

Yesterday, June 12, was Susan Engberg’s birthday and to celebrate that occasion we’ve decided to feature her in our archival photo of the week. Engberg is the author of four short story collections, including Pastorale, A Stay by the River, Sarah’s Laughter, and Above the Houses. Her work has attracted substantial praise. Writing in The New York Times, critically-acclaimed novelist Russell Banks called the stories in Engberg’s first collection, Pastorale, “so good that they could change your life.”  The collection went on to win the 1983 Banta Book Award. In 1991 Michiko Kakutani, ...

Editor's note: When it was published in 1979 William Styron's Sophie's Choice was immediately hailed by The New York Times as "an immensely important book." The following year the novel won the prestigious National Book Award for fiction. Two years later it was made into an Academy Award-winning film starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. Today it is widely regarded as Styron's greatest literary achievement and appeared in The Modern Library's list of 100 greatest English-language novels of the 20th century.

Sophie's Choice tells the story of Stingo, a Southerner who moves to New York to become a writer. After ...

It is with great pleasure that we share this week's featured except from Mama Ruby. In Mama Ruby, New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe presents an unforgettable tale featuring Mama Ruby, the indomitable heroine of her acclaimed novel The Upper Room. Now readers will get a peek into Ruby’s early years, as she transforms from a spoiled small-town girl into one of the South’s most notorious and volatile women. Click here for the previous Excerpt of the Week from Ira Levin's This Perfect Day.

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Chapter One

Shreveport, Louisiana, 1934

Nobody ever had to ...

James Grime's piece in The Guardian—How YouTube Is Popularizing Science—is a fun opportunity to explore science lessons long forgotten "with no pressure or expectations." Also, if you haven't yet seen posts elsewhere, Rebecca Greenfield's piece on Monday in The Atlantic—Designing a 19th-Century Kindle: An E-Reader for Dickens—took a look at how art student Rachel Walsh elected to convey the concept of the Amazon Kindle to Charles Dickens. Incredible!—Laura

If you use Flickr, I bet you've seen these wonderful photographs: Running ahead of myself, Sunny Side Up, Trees Snow and Shadows. In weeks, ...