It's disappointing to see that Fahrenheit 451 has been dropped from the Big Read programme.
NEA - the USA's National Endowment for the Arts - has been running the community literacy scheme for years, and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 has long been a popular inclusion. Ray even made a short documentary for the NEA back in 2008, in which he talked about the genesis of F451 and why it is a significant work that speaks out for literacy and against censorship.
It's hard to complain about the new batch of books, which has been drawn up in a deliberate effort to enhance the diversity of authors and voices in the list. But it's sad to see such a classic and popular work, one that chimes so directly with the aims of The Big Read, being turned aside.
The full list of twenty-eight books in the new scheme can be viewed here: http://www.neabigread.org/books.php
And here's Ray Bradbury talking about his masterpiece, and promoting The Big Read.
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