The Ossining Public Library

In the first issue of The Ossining Review of Books, novelist and essayist Benjamin Cheever listed his favorite five books set in or about Westchester. One of them was Richard Yates' 1961 novel Revolutionary Road.

It's "so sad as to be almost funny, and beautifully written." Cheever wrote. "The pleasure of this book lead me to Blake Bailey's biography of the novel's author." That biography, A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates, also made Cheever's list and deals with. Among other things, Yates' years in Ossining, living not far from the real Revolutionary Road.

Now, comes word from Variety, the Hollywood newspaper, that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are teaming up to star in the film version of Revolutionary Road.

Sam Mendes will direct. Variety notes that "Yates' heart-rending and bleak tome, celebrated for its storytelling style, follows a seemingly happy suburban couple with two children in the mid-1950s who find themselves caught between their true desires and the pressure to conform -- with explosive consequences. "

No word yet on what locations will be used in the movie which is scheduled to begin production this summer. Perhaps a scene or two on the real Revolutionary Road?