City launches “One Book, One New York”
The book club concept is going citywide with “One Book, One New York,” an initiative just announced by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to bring together local bookworms to read the same book at the same time.
The program features five celebrities – Bebe Neuwirth (“Madame Secretary”), William H. Macy (“Shameless”), Giancarlo Esposito (“The Get Down”), Larry Wilmore (comedian), and Danielle Brooks (“Orange is the New Black”), each of whom will advocate for their choice among the five books under consideration — Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, The Sellout by Paul Beatty and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. The book to be read will be chosen by city residents, who will vote for their favorite.
The initiative launched on February 1 with a citywide public awareness campaign on subways, buses, and LinkNYC.