The book of books : the great American read
(Book)

"As featured in the PBS series The great American read"--Cover

Includes bibliographical references and index

"The Great American Read: The book of books celebrates America's 100 best-loved novels--the books whose ideas, characters, and themes have shaped our country and reflect it back to us. This companion volume to PBS's series The Great American Read profiles the books, their authors, and their impact on our culture, as well as the little-known stories about how they came to be..."--Dust jacket

"The Great American Read: The book of books celebrates America's 100 best-loved novels--the books whose ideas, characters, and themes have shaped our country and reflect it back to us. This companion volume to PBS's series The Great American Read profiles the books, their authors, and their impact on our culture, as well as the little-known stories about how they came to be, all accompanied by fascinating images, including first-edition covers, manuscript pages, and other archival material. Woven throughout are features on topics from banned books to profiles of beloved illustrators, details about amazing library collections, and even writerly advice from the authors themselves. Read about the bonds between writers (Nathanial Hawthorne befriended Herman Melville on a mountaintop in a thunderstorm), what jobs authors had while they wrote (Kurt Vonnegut was a car dealer), or the critical reviews of classics (Mark Twain so disliked reading Jane Austen that he said he wanted to 'dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone'). Whether you're inspired to reread an old favorite or pick up a new classic, [this book] will definitely inspire you to add to your 'must-read' list́.--Dust jacket