By now I hope you have heard of The Big Read, but if you need a briefing here you go:
Back in 2004, a report by the National Endowment for the Arts found that literary reading in America was declining rapidly and that the rate of decline had accelerated, especially among the young. So two years later, the NEA launched The Big Read, a program designed to help “restore reading to the center of American culture” by encouraging communities to spend a month reading and discussing a single work of fiction. In 2006, The Big Read began with 10 communities, and since then, the NEA has given more than 1,000 grants to communities throughout the United States to organize Big Reads.
That’s where Dallas comes in. This year for the first time second time the city will participate in The Big Read. Over the course of the next month, Dallas will read Ray Bradbury’s classic Fahrenheit 451. Organizers have been dispatched to local schools, distributing copies of the book to students, and throughout April, The Big Read Dallas will host a series of events, sponsor book clubs, generate community around the project with a smart phone ap, and generally create excitement and conversation about the book.
Well, here’s where you come in. To celebrate the launch of the program today, we have 50 limited edition copies of Fahrenheit 451 to give away. But there’s a catch. Each person will receive two copies of the book. You can keep one, but you need to give another one away to a reader. It can be someone you know — a friend, a family member — or you can hand it out to a complete stranger.
So, to get your hands on a copy, enter your information in the form below and tell us how you plan to give away the second copy of Fahrenheit 451. Happy reading!
