LIVE from NYPL: The Book that Changed My Life Marathon at Symphony Space

This twelve-hour event will feature luminaries from many fields, speaking about books that greatly influenced them, followed by readings of excerpts from those works by Broadway and Hollywood actors. A special feature will be readings from books that changed the culture, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the New York Times bestseller list. Co-hosted by Paul Holdengräber, Director of Public Programs, NYPL, and Isaiah Sheffer, Artistic Director, Symphony Space

Co-presented with Symphony Space

SEGMENT ONE: 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Jon Scieszka, children's book author
John Lithgow, actor & children's book author
Sandra Boynton, children's book author & illustrator
Cynthia Nixon, actress
Jacques d'Amboise, Founder, National Dance Institute
Carmen Farina, Deputy Chancellor for Teaching & Learning, NYC Department of Education
Richard Thomas, actor
Charlotte d'Amboise, actor & dancer
Anne Jackson, actor

Readings from bestseller: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

SEGMENT TWO: 2:00 - 5:00 PM
Mark Bittman, food writer
Yusef Komunyakaa, poet
André Aciman, essayist
Clive Gillinson, Executive & Artistic Director, Carnegie Hall
Elissa Schappell, writer
Kate Burton, actress
Dana Gioia, Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
Blair Brown, actor
Joe Morton, actor

Readings from bestseller: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

SEGMENT THREE: 5:00 - 8:00 PM
Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director, The Public Theater
Maira Kalman, writer & illustrator
Ned Rorem, composer
Tom Otterness, sculptor
Nicholas Scoppetta, Fire Commissioner of New York City
Fritz Weaver, Actor
Thelma Golden, Deputy Director, The Studio Museum in Harlem
Linda Fairstein, author & former prosecutor

SEGMENT FOUR: 8:00 - 11:00 PM
Margo Jefferson, cultural critic, New York Times
Wren Brown, actor
Kathleen Chalfant, actress
Philip Gourevitch, journalist/editor, The Paris Review
Amy Sedaris, actor & writer
Doug Wright, playwright
Jerrold Nadler, congressman
Marian Seldes, actor
Howard Dodson, Chief, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Kurt Andersen, journalist
Jerrold Nadler, congressman

Readings from bestseller: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Sponsors for the event are Random House, Barnes and Noble, The National Book Foundation, XM Satellite Radio and The New York Times.