You’ve seen the film, now read the book

Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, is the kind of story that is rarely told, about a character who society usually writes off, judges as a statistic, or simply ignores. Precious is set in 1987 Harlem and tells the story of Claireece “Precious” Jones, an overweight, illiterate teen pregnant with her second child whose life takes a new direction when she is invited to enrol in an alternative school. The book and film deals with the difficult issues of sexual abuse and the hard road to break the cycle.

Precious has been an overwhelming success at the box office as the film spreads all over the world. On its opening weekend in the United States, Precious took an astounding $1.8 million from 18 screens for a record-breaking $100,000 screen average. The film now holds the box office record for the highest single day screen average for a film released on 20 prints or less, as well as the highest opening weekend gross of any film debuting on 50 screens or less.

A host of stars have been involved in the making of the film. Executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, Precious stars Gabourey Sidibe, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton and Mo’Nique. The film has already received several accolades including winner of the Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, the winner of the Audience Award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, and Mo’Nique has won Best Supporting Actress at the British Academy of Film Awards. All this looks positive for Precious to be a winning contender in the 6 nominated award categories at the Oscars on the 7 March.

Another Random House book making a splash at the British Academy of Film Awards is A Single Man starring Colin Firth. Also, a high contender at the Oscars, the film is based on the classic novel A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood. Colin Firth does a courageous portrayal of the alienated character George Falconer, an English professor in suburban California left heartbroken after the death of his lover Jim. With devastating clarity and humour, Christopher Isherwood shows George’s determination to carry on, evoking the unexpected pleasures of life as well as the soul’s ability to triumph over loneliness and alienation.

Nominated in 4 award categories, this makes the Oscars an exciting year for all the Random House team.

For more information about Precious and to watch the film clip, click here to visit the Precious website.