What is the Big Read?

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to give readers an opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their community and to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

The Big Read was created in response to reports by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2004 and 2007 that found that literary reading in American was declining rapidly among all groups, especially among the young. These declines in reading had civic, social and economic implications:  literary readers were more likely to perform volunteer and charity work, visit art museums, attend performing arts events and attend sporting events.  Fortunately, a 2008 NEA study, Reading on the Rise, has shown an uptick in literary reading rates. 

The Pioneer Library System began our annual Big Read event in 2007 with The Grapes of Wrath. This was followed by successful Big Reads for To Kill a Mockingbird, Bless Me Ultima, The Maltese Falcon, and The Things They Carried. Each title was unique in its own way, each presenting different perspectives of discussion and community events.

This year’s choice, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, is a New York Times bestseller.  It tells the story of four Chinese women in 1949- drawn together by the shadow of their past- who begin meeting in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks, eat dim sum, and “say” stories. They call their gathering the Joy Luck Club. Nearly forty years later, one of the members has died. When her daughter comes to take her place, she learns of her mother’s lifelong wish, and the tragic way in which it has come true. It is a story about parent-child relationships, immigration and cultural identity, and balance.

Whether this is your first or sixth Big Read with us, we hope you participate in The Big Read: The Joy Luck Club to read, discuss and join in as many events as you can.

Happy Reading!

Anne Harris

Reader’s Services
Pioneer Library System