Reading the 2018 Golden Globes

By Gwen Glazer, Librarian
January 8, 2018

Novels, biographies, works of fantasy and science fiction, and other books played big roles in the films and television honored at the 75th Golden Globe Awards. When accepting her award for best actress in a drama series for The Handmaid's Tale, Elisabeth Moss quoted the author of the book's author, Margaret Atwood:

"We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories."

Moss then continued:

"Margaret Atwood, this is for you, and all the women who came before you and after you who spoke out against intolerance and injustice and a fight for equality and freedom in this world. We no longer live in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. We no longer live in the gaps between between the stories. But we are the story in print, and we are writing the story ourselves."

Margaret Atwood

Author Margaret Atwood. Photo by Liam Sharp.

Activism

In an additional nod to this year's spotlight on women in entertainment and the historic backlash against sexual harassment and abuse in the industry, several actors who were nominated brought activists to the event as their plus-ones. Some of these activists are writers in their own right or historical figures in the fight for gender equality; others are still fighting the battles that will see them added to the history books in the years to come.

Three of the eight women who walked the red carpet alongside celebrities have books in the Library's collections:

  • Saru Jayaraman details the fight for fair treatment in the restaurant industry through her books Forked: A New Standard For American Dining and Behind the Kitchen Door.

  • Billie Jean King's legendary win on the tennis courts is the topic of more than one biography and her own literary works.

  • Conversation is brewing around the topic of domestic work, protections for those who care for Americans as they age, and fair treatment for those who keep the home fires burning have driven Ai-jen Poo to write on our aging society.

end

Also, in her speech accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement, Oprah Winfrey told the story of Recy Taylor, the black woman who fought for justice after she was raped by six white men in 1944. Author and historian Danielle L. McGuire told Taylor's story in a 2010 book: At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance—A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power.

Nominees & Winners

Literature providing a foundation for visual arts is nothing new. But this year, more than a dozen nominees and winners could trace their origins to works of literature.

Two of the winners had roots in novels:

  •  The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (best television series, drama)
  • Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (best television limited series or motion picture made for television)

And a host of nominees began as books:

Last but not least, if a song from a movie based on a book isn't too much of a stretch: "Home" was nominated from the new children's movie, Ferdinand, which is based loosely on Munro Leaf's 1936 classic. The soundtrack and the book are both available from the Library.

---

Thanks to Rachael Berkey for contributing to this post.

---

Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!