Brooklyn Book Club Lands 6 Sold-Out Odyssey Premiere Tickets as Novel Sales Top 1 Million
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 16
Brooklyn Book Club Lands 6 Sold-Out Odyssey Premiere Tickets as Novel Sales Top 1 Million
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 16
Summary
Six 70mm IMAX tickets for Friday’s sold-out “The Odyssey” premiere were secured by Eileen Tyrrell’s Brooklyn book club after online showings vanished in 90 seconds and AMC’s website crashed for two hours.
Christopher Nolan’s film release has pushed readers into crash-course classics study, with Tyrrell’s group finishing Homer’s 24-book epic over five weeks before their final meeting Sunday.
1 million domestic copies of “The Odyssey” have been sold across formats in 2026, while Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation — the version Nolan cited — has seen trade paperback sales rise nearly 40% from last year.
Thousands more readers are joining the rush through newsletters and reading groups, including a 5,000-subscriber Substack read-along and a 75-person Close Reading NYC program.
Readers and organizers say the appeal goes beyond the movie, with the ancient poem proving more accessible than expected and resonating through themes of migration, misinformation and personal journey.