Image - Jasmin Darznik
Past Event

Jasmin Darznik: The Bohemians

The New York Times best-selling Bay Area author Jasmin Darznik returns to The Commonwealth Club to discuss her much-anticipated new novel, The Bohemians, a book that imagines the friendship between photographer Dorothea Lange and her Chinese American assistant in 1920s San Francisco.

Darznick's new book captures a glittering and gritty 1920s San Francisco, with a cast of interesting characters, including cameos from such legendary historic figures as Frida Kahlo, Ansel Adams and D.H. Lawrence. The novel is a vivid and absorbing portrait of the past; it also connects with our complicated present, as anti-immigration sentiment, anti-Asian violence, corrupt politicians and a devastating pandemic bring tumult to San Francisco. The book is perfect for anyone who cares about San Francisco history, especially those captivated by Lange's photography. Darznik will be in discussion with Bay Area author Julia Flynn Siler.

Jasmin Darznik's debut novel, Song of a Captive Bird, was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice book and a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Darznik is also the author of The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother’s Hidden Life. Her books have been published in 17 countries and her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, among others.

Notes

Copies of The Bohemians are available for purchase during checkout. Purchased books will be sent to the address provided at checkout (domestic U.S. addresses only).

Part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

This is a free, online-only program; you must pre-register to receive a link to the live-stream event. We welcome any donations made during the registration to help support the production of our online programming.

We can accommodate a limited amount of complimentary access for those for whom cost is a barrier. Please email programs@commonwealthclub.org.

April 13, 2021

United States

Speakers
Image - Jasmin Darznik

Jasmin Darznik

Novelist; Professor; Author, The Bohemians

Image - Julia Flynn Siler

Julia Flynn Siler

Journalist; Author, The White Devil's Daughters