Golden State Book Club: A Paradise Built In Hell

Hi, it’s Vanessa, your ENLIGHTENMENT host. Let’s start a book club!

Just as with Philosophy Cafe and Trivia Night, I’m wanting to add events to the calendar that are truly interactive discussions between all the people who show up, and everyone has a chance to ask questions, share their thoughts, and give their opinions. A Book Club seems to fit the bill.

One reason why I’ve joined book clubs is to read literature I wouldn’t have selected on my own and hopefully expand my knowledge and broaden my literary interests. I’m still all for that, but now I’d also like to add to that list more knowledge of the place I live in - California. So I’d like to start a bi-monthly book club focused on the Golden State. There’s so much going on here (it’s pretty easy for me to find local topics and California natives I’d like to profile in the salon talks) that I think there are plenty of California-focused books, both fiction and non-fiction, that would make for some great reading and discussion to have every other month.

Googling “California Books,” this one by Rebecca Solnit ironically appeared high on the list. Maybe with the Los Angeles wildfires still burning, it’s not a surprise. Even though it was written in 2009, it’s still very relevant. And because we’re living in a state that’s Ground Zero for climate change, many of us can relate to now more than ever.

The book description is at the bottom. Join me at Ruhstaller BSMT for a book discussion over drinks, and to pick the next read.

* Ruhstaller has a variety of beers on tap, as well as wine, kombucha and sparkling water, but please feel free to BYO food and nonalcoholic beverages.

For more information about ENLIGHTENMENT and about California Groundbreakers, go to californiagroundbreakers.org

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Why is it that in the aftermath of a disaster--whether manmade or natural--people suddenly become altruistic, resourceful, and brave? What makes the newfound communities and purpose many find in the ruins and crises after disaster so joyous? And what does this joy reveal about ordinarily unmet social desires and possibilities?
In A Paradise Built in Hell, award-winning author Rebecca Solnit explores these phenomena, looking at major calamities from the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco through the 1917 explosion that tore up Halifax, Nova Scotia, the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. She examines how disaster throws people into a temporary utopia of changed states of mind and social possibilities, as well as looking at the cost of the widespread myths and rarer real cases of social deterioration during crisis. This is a timely and important book from an acclaimed author whose work consistently locates unseen patterns and meanings in broad cultural histories.

Host or Publisher California Groundbreakers