San Francisco Pioneer Cemeteries - 10/31 at the Main Library

Lowell High School author visit

Doug Dorst talked with more than 600 Lowell High School students and then signed books for 100+! The school also created an awesome display.

Cabbages and Marble Orchards - 10/28 at SFPL

Holy Cross Cemetery Walking Tour Pix - 10/11/09

Doug Dorst, (a)live and in person in San Francisco!

Doug's hitting the streets of SF, and the graves of Colma, and talking about Alive in Necropolis this week. Here's where you can find him 10/9-10/14:

Black, White and Read: Litquake’s Book Ball
Litquake kicks off its 10-year anniversary with a ball loosely modeled on Truman Capote’s famous Black and White ball held in the late sixties. Attendees can expect to mingle with many authors, including Doug Dorst. For complete details and ticket information visit litquake.org
Friday, October 9 – 8 p.m.
Herbst Theater’s Green Room,
401 Van Ness Ave. at McAllister Street

Doug Dorst on West Coast Live: San Francisco’s Live Radio to the World
Saturday, October 10 – 10am-12pm
Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison St. near Shattuck, in Berkeley

Author reading with Doug Dorst
Saturday, October 10 – 3 p.m.
Books Inc. Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness Ave., (415) 776-1111

Doug Dorst reads at Writers with Drinks
$3-$5 sliding scale, All proceeds benefit local non-profits.
Saturday, October 10 - 7:30–9:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.)
The Make-Out Room
3225 22nd. St., San Francisco CA

Notable Figures of San Francisco: Free Cemetery Walking Tour in Colma
Co-sponsored by the San Francisco History Association
Joining the tour, led by Monica Williams of Holy Cross Cemetery, will be Doug Dorst, author of San Francisco’s One City One Book 2009 selection Alive in Necropolis, a remarkable and original novel set primarily in Colma’s cemeteries. For more information visit SF History Association.
Sunday, October 11 – 11 a.m.
Holy Cross Cemetery - 1500 Mission Road, Colma

Spirits, Tarot & the Page …One City One Book One Bar
Help the San Francisco Public Library celebrate this year’s One City One Book pick. It’s only fitting that we’ll be celebrating this can’t-put-down supernatural thriller with custom “Necropolis” cocktails, free Tarot card readings, and a live reading from Dorst himself. The Page Bar inspired a bar on the pages of Alive in Necropolis – have you spotted it yet? Book sales by Green Apple Books.
Monday, October 12 – 6–8 p.m.
The Page, 298 Divisadero St. at Page Street, San Francisco; 21 and over

One City One Book and Litquake present: Doug Dorst in conversation with Adam Johnson
Join us for an insightful discussion between our One City One Book author and author/Stanford University lecturer Adam Johnson. foolsFURY Theater Company, under the direction of Ben Yalom, will open the evening with a staged reading of an excerpt from Alive in Necropolis. After the conversation, there will be lots of time for audience questions and Doug Dorst will sign books. Book sales by Book Bay.
Tuesday, October 13 – 6 p.m.
San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium – 100 Larkin St.

About the Cover by Tomer Hanuka

I think books are, by design, meant to evoke visuals. When reading a book, images come to mind, and some images seem to communicate on a few levels at once, a bit like metaphors: They encompass the soul or spirit or the grand concept of the text as well as being a moment in the plot. In the reading process it is these exact moments that I aim to distill into a visual.

From there, I start with visual research that is as specific as I can get. In this case, with the cemeteries of Colma.

During the sketch stage, I explored two directions, both taking place in a cemetery at night. The first was of the protagonist, Michael Mercer, tucked right under the horizon line while aiming his flashlight towards the ground. The idea was that his whole attention and body language are directed downwards, into a world or a reality that exists "underground" (an intentional visual pun to conjure the buried dead, much like the ghost scene existing under the surface of the book's reality). And as a detective, Mercer's job is to dig up the unknown, the hidden, the buried.

The second sketch is of Mercer coming from the edge of the frame and illuminating the surroundings with a bright light at the center. But with Art Director Lisa Amoroso's guidance, a third option emerged that we thought was the most compelling and thus became the cover.

On the cover, Mercer is a dynamic element, yet compositionally his figure is mostly "under-ground"-the implication is that he is stuck in a mass of black soil and digging downwards, searching for answers (both professional and personal). I wanted to preserve something of the original concept while communicating both the drama of a detective thriller and suggesting its unlikely context.

--Tomer Hanuka, Alive in Necropolis cover illustrator

"Ask the Book Guy" Giveaway - 10/6 at 8am

What: 30 copies of Alive in Necropolis up for grabs

Where: Dynamo Donuts, 2760 24th St

When: Tuesday, October 6 starting at 8am, till the books are gone

How: Oscar Villalon, former SF Chronicle book editor and current publisher of McSweeney's will be outside of Dynamo with the books. Ask him a question about books and/or football and receive a thoughtful answer, a free book + a very informative and super-exciting program guide and bookmark.

Also: Dynamo will be selling the "Colma Copper" donut on 10/6, a custom blueberry cornmeal treat made especially for One City One Book.