New Book Publishing Television Show, Open Book, Premieres on LinkTV

We lit buffs aren't exactly a target market for television networks, so we often get shafted when it comes to enjoyable television material. And no, CW, that Age of Innocence-themed Gossip Girl episode doesn't count. Now, however, LinkTV is airing a show that might make any bookworm switch off the flashlights, emerge from beneath the covers, and turn on the TV.

Open Book will feature writers, musicians, actors and artists from around the world, reading from their own work or one that inspires them. The show focuses on a different location each week. The half-hour show premiered on LinkTV on Monday, stopping by Ft. Greene, Brooklyn to introduce the neighborhood's writers and artists, as well as their historical predecessors and former residents (such as Walt Whitman, Henry Miller and Richard Wright).

The premiere featured national bestsellers like Ishmael Beah (A Long Way Gone) and Jennifer Egan (The Keep), as well as 2008 American Book Award winner Moustafa Bayoumi (How Does It Feel to be a Problem?) and OBIE Award-winning playwright Carl Hancock Rux (Talk). It's like a pre-Oscars red carpet roundup for book nerds, except swapping out Joan Rivers for book publicist and editor Ina Howard-Parker.

Also featured in the premiere were actors and musicians, such as Cadillac Records' Jeffrey Wright (who read from Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry") and jazz musician Bill Lee, who also happens to be Spike Lee's dad.

Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Diane Paragas, Open Book attempts to shed light on both up-and-coming and prominent authors. "We're really creating short films -- combining readings, performances and interviews -- in order to create a moving portrait of each artist in the place where they live and work, while pushing boundaries as artists and filmmakers ourselves," Paragas said in a recent statement.

For clips from the pilot, check out Open Book on Vimeo.

Check out this clip from Moustafa Bayoumi's appearance on the show: