Lincoln Square’s Book Cellar Represents Illinois In Great American Novel Documentary

by Kayleigh Padar / Block Club Chicago / September 6, 2023

“Books Across America" features 50 famous authors about why they write and what makes a great novel. During his stop in Chicago, filmmaker Mason Engel interviewed author Veronica Roth at The Book Cellar.

LINCOLN SQUARE — Lincoln Square’s The Book Cellar represented Illinois in a documentary where a filmmaker read 50 books while traveling to 50 states in 50 days, exploring the country’s literary history and the concept of the “Great American Novel.”

Filmmaker and writer Mason Engel’s documentary, “Books Across America,” features 50 famous authors who spoke at local bookstores about why they write and what makes a great novel.

During Engel’s stop in Chicago, he interviewed Veronica Roth — who wrote the Divergent series and frequently depicts Chicago in her novels — at The Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave. 

“It was a ton of fun and an ambitious project,” said Suzy Takacs, who opened The Book Cellar in 2004. “They had a crazy mission to read a book while they were traveling to a bookstore in a new city, and they still had thoughtful questions prepared.” Read more HERE