Hear excerpts from The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers that tells an unforgettable tale of moral isolation in a small southern mill town in the 1930s.  Copyright © 1940, renewed 1967 by Carson McCullers. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. Audio rights courtesy of HarperAudio. All rights reserved.

Additional music credit: “Sundown” by Son House © 1965 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. Currently available on Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions. Tracks used courtesy of Song BMG Music Entertainment.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, developed in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The program is designed to restore reading back to the center of American culture.

Narrated by: Dana Gioia

National Endowment for the Arts presents:  An introduction to "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Narrated by: Dana Gioia

Readings by: Alfred Molina
Narrated by: Dana Gioia

National Endowment for the Arts presents:  An introduction to "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy.

Readings by: Alfred Molina
Narrated by: Dana Gioia

Narrated by: Dana Gioia

National Endowment for the Arts presents:  An introduction to "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

Narrated by: Dana Gioia

National Endowment for the Arts presents:  An introduction to "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck.

Readings by: Ed Harris
Narrated by: Dana Gioia

Part 2 of a two part episode.

National Endowment for the Arts presents:  An introduction to "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck.

Readings by: Ed Harris
Narrated by: Dana Gioia

National Endowment for the Arts presents:  An introduction to "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London.

Readings by: Robert Redford
Narrated by: Dana Gioia

Part 2 of a two part episode.

National Endowment for the Arts presents:  An introduction to "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London.

Readings by: Robert Redford
Narrated by: Dana Gioia