Chicago chooses famous Holocaust novel

As the second book in its One Book, One Chicago programme, Chicago Public Library has chosen Elie Wiesel's Night, a powerful novel which draws on the author's own terrible experiences in the Nazi death camps. Wiesel, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, was born in what is now Romania and was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. The author will visit Chicago in April to take part in discussions about the book.

Night is the second novel to be chosen by the Chicago Public Library for this programme. The first was Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking-Bird. The idea of a whole city reading one book was first tried in Seattle in 1998 and has now been adapted by 40 cities in the US. The intention is that people should read the book and then gather to discuss it. To date, this has been very successful as a way of encouraging people to read and to focus on books.