One Book, One Marin Celebrates Verghese

If you were held captive by Abraham Verghese’s sweeping novel, Cutting For Stone, over the last several months, you weren’t alone.

All across Marin, readers devoured Verghese’s epic story of brotherhood, destiny and medicine as part of One Book One Marin, a community-reading initiative now in its fifth year. It culminates Wednesday night with an appearance by Dr. Verghese at Dominican University, marking the close of a three-month program produced by the Marin County Free Library along with City Public Libraries of Marin County and Book Passage and Dominican.

One Book One Marin has its roots in Seattle, Wash., where Nancy Pearl, executive director of the Washington Center for the Book in the Seattle Public Library, created a program called "If All Seattle Read the Same Book” in 1998.

Since then, One Book One Community programs have started across the United States (there are now more than 150 groups and counting), and in 1993 the American Library Association joined the initiative to provide guidance and assistance at a national level.

Marin’s very own program is now in its fifth successful year. Although each program is unique to its own area and selects its own titles, an overriding goal is to celebrate the literary heritage of the participating communities. Here in Marin, that translates into a mandate to select a Bay Area-based author – one who is willing to make personal appearances to kick-off and close the program.

Fortunately for readers, local literary talent could only be described as an embarrassment of riches.

One Book One Marin’s previous selections, in reverse chronological order, were: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Berkeley author Michael Chabon; What is the What, by San Francisco-based Dave Eggers; Saving Fish From Drowning, by San Francisco's Amy Tan; and the inaugural 2007 selection was Daughter of Fortune by Marin’s own Isabel Allende.

Gayle Peterson, the project coordinator for One Book One Marin, explains that the selection process begins each fall, when a committee of around 10 people from each of the partner organizations gathers to review possibilities.

“We try to appeal to a broad spectrum of readers, including high school students,” she explains. “And to choose something that will generate discussion and the sharing of ideas.”

The book doesn’t necessarily have to be current, nor does it have to be fiction (although, with the exception of Eggers’ book, they have leaned in that direction so far). They also strive to balance the gender of the authors, and look for books that are readily available in paperback and translated into Spanish.

Once a title is selected, the author is invited for a kick-off event in February, followed by several months’ worth of programming and events produced mainly by the Marin County Free Library and city libraries across the county. All programs are free to the public. This year also saw the introduction of an online book club in connection.

Of Cutting For Stone, Peterson says, “We’ve never had so much interest in a [selection]… It’s a marvelous story, with characters that are so real and so unique. People are really responding to the medical philosophy underlying the story… a doctor who actually spends time with people rather than punching things into a computer.”

Peterson is referring to Verghese’s emphasis, both in this book and in an earlier memoir, on “bedside medicine.” As a practicing physician himself, Verghese straddles two seemingly disparate worlds with remarkable facility. His medical career is as notable as his writing success, and includes time spent tending to rural AIDS patients in the American heartland as well as being the founding director of The Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Currently, Verghese is tenured professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine and associate chair of Internal Medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto. Verghese’s focus on the doctor-patient relationship and on physical diagnosis contrasts sharply with the general direction of modern medicine, which strikes many patients as both impersonal and de-humanizing.

He chronicled his own transformation from self-described “homoignorance” in a memoir titled My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story.

Cutting For Stone mines similar medical territory as the memoir, but is set against a backdrop of political upheaval in Verghese’s native Ethiopia. The powerful, moving story has clearly struck a chord with readers around the country: since its release in paperback, the novel has spent 64 weeks (and counting) on the New York Times’ Trade Paperback bestseller list.

Readers across Marin have embraced Cutting For Stone, and many book clubs have tackled the 600+ page novel together. Erin Lacey, a Novato resident, was drawn by both the story and the storytelling: “The Ethiopian setting provided a unique background forthe lives of the incredibly arresting characters… Verghese’s writing style is wonderful,and while I couldn’t wait to see what would happen to Shiva and Marion, I also wantedto linger on every lovely word.”

Lacey read the book on her own, but as a regular library-goer was aware of its selection for One Book One Marin. She also says she’s interested in attending future OBOM events.

Casey Mancl, a reader from Tiburon, calls the book “an unexpected delight and a story about life that is relatable regardless of where you grew up or what you do for a living…I felt as though I intimately knew every character and yet I didn’t feel bogged down by lengthy descriptions.” Mancl read the book along with her book club.

One Book One Marin’s Peterson is hopeful that the popularity of this year’s selection will be a boost to the program and get more readers to participate as the initiative grows. Verghese’s own enthusiasm has been infectious, she says, referring to his excitement when he found out that tomorrow night’s event has been advertised on Golden Gate Transit buses.

“He was thrilled!” she says. “He wanted us to send him some pictures of the bus-backs.”

The event is a conversation between Verghese and Michael Krasny, noted host of KQED’s Forum. Peterson says advance interest in the event has been through the roof.

Fans of the book still have a chance to hear Verghese speak tomorrow night at Dominican, and those who wish that the story would have lasted just a little bit longer can take heart: the book has also recently been optioned as a film.

The 411: An Evening with Abraham Verghese, closing celebration for One Book One Marin takes place Wednesday April 27, Angelico Hall, Dominican University, 7 p.m. (doors open at 6pm). Admission is free, seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here for more info.