The Open Road Blog

Jewish American Heritage Month celebrates "generations of Jewish Americans who have helped form the fabric of American history, culture and society." It’s supported by the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration (from which the image at left came), the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the National Park Service, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Open Road is proud to participate in the tribute by offering new videos, essays, and excerpts on Fridays throughout the month of May. Join us on Twitter by using the hashtag #JAHM.

As our first contribution, ...

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 ...

Iconic Ebooks Are Titles That Are Entrenched in Popular Culture
and Are Now Being Introduced to a New Generation of Readers Digitally

(October 18, 2011) Open Road Integrated Media, a digital publisher and multimedia content company, announced today that it will digitally publish and market Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, the groundbreaking international bestseller that revolutionized female sexuality, as an ebook throughout the world in the English language. Fear of Flying will be the first title in Open Road's new Iconic Ebooks imprint. The ebook, with a new cover and an illustrated biography featuring never-before-seen photos, goes on sale today....

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 ...