A struggling writer travels to 50 states, reads 50 books, and interviews 50 authors, all in 50 days. In this real-life version of the Great American Novel, the characters are all obsessed with books, and they’re all searching for their happily ever after.
This feature-length documentary, bound for public television, aims to answer a simple question: why do we read? The crew interviews one notable author in each state in search of an answer.
Ann Arbor’s Peter Ho Davies (A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself / Literati Bookstore) is representing Michigan.
James Patterson, Ann Patchett, Veronica Roth, Walter Mosley, David Baldacci, Joyce Carol Oates, Brandon Sanderson, Clint Smith, and dozens of other bestselling authors weigh in. We even hear from Dr. Hayden, the current Librarian of Congress. Why are readers so obsessed with “once upon a times”? America’s brightest literary minds answer with a story.
Watch the trailer HERE
DATES OF THE ROAD TRIP
January 12, 2023 – March 2, 2023
PHASE OF PRODUCTION
The team has organized 70+ hours of footage (35+ TB) and has begun editing.
KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
Books Across America is running a Kickstarter campaign from July 11, 2023 through August 8, 2023 to pay the finishing costs of the film (editing, coloring, music, etc.). All profits in excess of these costs will benefit the foundation behind Read Across America Day.
DISTRIBUTION
Books Across America will premiere on public television in late 2024 or early 2025.
ABOUT MASON ENGEL
Mason Engel is an independent author and filmmaker. His sci-fi novel, 2084, has been downloaded over 35,000 times. His short documentary about indie bookshops, The Bookstour, has played at the Miami, Brooklyn, Louisiana, and Portland Literary Festivals. His follow-up docushort, Story Road, which tells the origin stories of publishing giants like Andy Weir and Christopher Paolini, will premiere on public television this summer. His upcoming feature-length documentary, Books Across America, follows Mason as he travels to 50 states, reads 50 books, and interviews 50 authors, all in 50 days. A treatise on why we tell stories, the film includes interviews with James Patterson, Brandon Sanderson, Clint Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, and many more. Mason lives in Columbus, Indiana, where he spends his time editing Books Across America, writing a new novel based on his travels, and planning a documentary series, a kind of “Parts Unknown” for the book world.
