The Bridges of Madison County

Infobox Book
title=The Bridges of Madison County
author=Robert James Waller
publisher=Warner Books, Inc.
pub_date=1992
isbn=044651652X
followed_by=A Thousand Country Roads

"The Bridges of Madison County" is a 1992 best-selling novel by Robert James Waller which tells the story of a lonely Italian war bride who engages in an adulterous affair with a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, Washington who has come to Madison County, Iowa in order to create a photographic essay on the covered bridges in the area. The novel is presented as a novelization of a true story, but it is in fact entirely fiction. However, the author admitted in an interview that there are strong similarities between the main character and himself. [Transcript of interview with Robert James Waller at http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/thousand_country_roads2.asp#bio, retrieved 4 Feb, 2008]

The novel is one of the bestselling books of the twentieth century, with 50 million copies sold worldwide.

The "Bridges of Madison County" was made into a 1995 film of the same name adapted by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Clint Eastwood. It stars Eastwood and Meryl Streep.

Its epilogue entitled "A Thousand Country Roads" was published in 2002. It tells the remainder of the two main characters' story after their four-day affair.

ee also

*Madison County, Iowa
*Winterset City Park, Winterset, Iowa - Stone bridge in the park was used during filming.

References

External links

* [http://www.sos.mo.gov/wolfner/dbdc/bridgesofmadisoncounty.asp Discussion of the book]
* [http://facstaff.uww.edu/cottlec/QArchive/bomc.htm Study of reader response to the novel]
* [http://www3.isrl.uiuc.edu/~unsworth/courses/bestsellers/search.cgi?title=The+Bridges+of+Madison+County]