Opportunity Knocks: Santa Barbara Reads: A Community Conversation
By Melinda Ann Palacio -- July 31, 2001
Are you waiting for a community movement to kick off your summer reading plans? The opportunity has arrived.
"Santa Barbara Reads: A Community Conversation" isn't just a reading list or monthly book club, it's an opportunity to feel part of something larger and connect with fellow residents from Santa Barbara to South Santa Barbara County by talking about one book, "The Tortilla Curtain" by local author, T.C. Boyle. Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blume invited the community to read the book and announced the series of events, culminating on September 28--the 4th annual Santa Barbara Book & Author Festival.
"I'm delighted to be here. Residents of Santa Barbara and SB County are invited to read the same book. It's a poignant story addressing significant social issues. We're dealing with the same issues. It's about the American dream, racism, and human dignity. Borders books and music will offer a senior brunch and dialogue. Join the celebration and we're all going to read together."
Boyle's award-winning novel tackles the controversial subject of illegal immigration. He spins a beautifully written tale about the head-on collision between a yuppie couple in Topanga canyon and a Mexican couple desperate to realize their American dream. The title is an image and popular phrase for the Mexican border. He paints a tangible picture of life on the side of the have and the have-nots. Boyle tells a story without preaching or taking sides. His ability to show the realities of both sides of the curtain makes for a stimulating read--and, what the movement hopes will be a community dialogue. The novel confronts the author's own sensitivity to immigration issues. Boyle inaugurated the movement with a short speech and book signing.
"I'm deeply honored to be chosen to kick off, I hope what will become, an annual reading festival for all of us. I am a product of public schools. My son is now attending Santa Barbara High where I will be doing a reading prior to the one at the book fair. I grew up in NY in a working class family. I was lucky enough to go to a state university in New York.
"My life is writing fiction. "The Tortilla Curtain" arose out of my own conflicts in dealing --with while I was here living in Los Angeles, just above Topanga Canyon which is where this book is set, I was reading the Times everyday--dealing with immigration issues. Just prior to Prop 187, it was really just yes and no and there was no dialogue. So I wrote the book just to sort out my own feelings. I hope it leaves the reader at the end with some questions. I hope you all have a good read."
Four years ago, librarian, Nancy Pearl started the nationwide movement "One book, One City" in Seattle. The movement caught onto the statewide level as well. California Reads has chosen "The Grapes of Wrath" to read by October. Locals have until September 28 to participate. Boyle will be provide a reading and field questions on September 19 at Santa Barbara High School and on Sept. 28 at the Santa Barbara book festival. Local editor and program organizer, Steven Gilbar says he hopes the movement catches on.
"I'm really involved in reading. I think reading is one of the most wonderful things that you can do. And, the idea of a community coming together, reading the same book at one time is just beautiful. "The Tortilla Curtain" starts a conversation. I get the idea that you're on the bus and you ask them did you read "The Tortilla Curtain?" Go out to these discussion groups, talk to your neighbor, ask people on the bus if they've read the book. It's not enough to read the book by yourself. It's a social novel in the Steinbeck tradition. It starts a conversation."
And, the conversation is guaranteed to be meaningful. Perhaps, you already have an opinion on immigration, on the standard of living for the undocumented workers that take the jobs you'd gladly pass up, on the way are borders are managed, or on our Spanish-speaking President? Will you join the community conversation?
For more information contact Debra Park at 805-893-5732 or www.ci.santa-barbara.ca.us/library/sbreads.