PBS’ The Great American Read starts tonight, and it’s a massive celebration of all things literary. It’s a grand effort to track down America’s most beloved book.
The Great American Read launches with a two-hour special with a library’s worth of celebrities highlighting their favorite books from the list of 100. Following the special, readers across the country will have until October to vote for their favorite.
Think of it like your summer reading assignments from high school with much less pressure; no one’s making you read Ayn Rand, but the book is there if you’re into that sort of thing.
The list has everything from time-honored classics like The Catcher in the Rye and Frankenstein to more recent releases like Jason Reynolds’ Ghost or Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One. And then there are a couple here and there that, while popular, many people wouldn’t describe as “beloved masterworks.” Cough Fifty Shades of Grey cough cough.
And with the internet being the internet, where one person is celebrating something, five more are not far behind, ready to shut it down.
Objections to the list of 100 great American novels run the gamut. As one Facebook user posited, “Dracula and Wizard of Oz are glaring omissions from the Great American Read.” And as another so eloquently put it:
These kinds of reactions aren’t unusual for this kind of “best of” lists online, but there’s factor that takes some wind out of the rage sails: The books were chosen out of a carefully designed public survey.
Aware of what kind of ire the list might draw, PBS talks about how the books were chosen right at the top of their FAQ. The organization enlisted a polling service called YouGov (self-described as a global public opinion and data company) to survey roughly 7,200 Americans about their favorite novels.
From there, a panel of 13 literary industry professionals oversaw the results and compiled the list, with some caveats. For instance, there can’t be multiple slots taken up by one series or one author; books could be from anywhere just as long as they were published in English; only fiction was considered; and each panel member could pick one book to bring up from the extended list of survey results.
“This is probably an accurate reflection of most Americans’ reading habits,” Lauren Gilbert, head of community services at Sachem Public Library in Holbrook, NY, told School Library Journal. “They read ‘literature’ when it was assigned, and since then, they read the popular book everyone is talking about.”
Elizabeth Gray, adult audience strategist for the Monroe County Public Library, says she’s a fan of the list because it has plenty of variety of genres and moods.
“I want people to read, whatever the reason they’re reading,” Gray said. “I think we get pushed into – especially being in school – [the idea that there are] certain books that are ‘good,’ and those are the books that you should read.”
And as young readers are pushed in that direction, Gray says, they get this idea of “reading for a higher purpose,” which can get in the way of reading for enjoyment.
“I feel like if you ask somebody, ‘What’s your favorite book?’ they sort of feel like they have to name a classic. That’s not always necessarily what their favorite book is or the book they enjoyed the most,” Gray said.
While the classics are considered such for a reason, Gray argues that many of the newer releases deserve the recognition they’re receiving. The more recent titles can showcase voices that probably wouldn’t have been highlighted decades ago, like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah.
And revisiting the classics people have read before can bring some new insight as well.
“The first time I read [The Catcher in the Rye] I was a young teenager, so of course I totally got the whole teen angst part of it,” Gray said. “But later when I was an adult, and I read it as a parent, I was like, ‘Ugh, this kid is running around New York – his parents don’t know where he is!’”
But above all else, Gray says the Great American Read’s wide array of titles gives people the greenlight to check out whatever stories they want – and they shouldn’t be ashamed of liking what they like. Just that they should be reading.
“You could ask probably anybody around here to choose a book they’d like to read and they wouldn’t have a hard time finding something,” Gray said.
The Great American Read premieres Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on WTIU. You can find the checklist of books and mark down what you’ve already read at the Great American Read’s website.
Listen: George Walker reviews the stage adaptation of the Kurt Vonnegut hit God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (via WFIU Arts)
