Book In Common | Events Calendar | Community Partners | Resources

Butte College, along with CSU Chico and Butte County Libraries, Enloe Hospital, the City of Chico and many others have adopted The Soloist by L.A.Times columnist, Steve Lopez. as the book in common for the 2009-2010 school year.

The Soloist: The L.A.Times columnist becomes an unlikely advocate and friend to a mentally ill homeless man who was once a musical prodigy.

Purpose of the Book in Common at Butte College

• To bring the Butte Glenn community together through a common experience
• To bring literate, engaging stories, and relevant topics to the Butte College community
• To value the pursuit of learning through books
• To recognize our shared humanity

Campus events are scheduled throughout the year to discuss this story and the book’s principal themes. Faculty members are encouraged to integrate the book into their class reading assignments and discussions. The book becomes a touchstone and a common experience to start conversations and engage in intellectual reflection.

To purchase a book, visit the Butte College Bookstore or order on-line. The bookstore offers the book at a 25% discount. Books are also available at the Butte College Library.

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Create a Book in Common Book Group
Enjoy the pleasure of reading a compelling story. Find a few other people who would like to read the book and set up a few dates to discuss it. Faculty members can even get flex credit through a staff development partnership for holding a book group discussion.

 

About the book

LOS ANGELES' skid row, as Steve Lopez writes in The Soloist, is the homeless capital of the nation.

Hidden in plain sight just down the street from City Hall and mere steps from the offices of this newspaper, skid row is a reeking repository of disease, drugs and desperation that most of us avoid when possible or hurriedly step past when necessary, averting our stares from hollow cheeks and hollow eyes, as if they were invisible.

"The Soloist" is Lopez's compelling and gruffly tender account of what can happen when you don't step past.

In his unsparing portrait of this universe and the plight of the homeless mentally ill, Lopez offers not a moment of wonkery or preachiness -- just his keen observations and eye for telling detail as he unfolds the story of his unintended and improbable friendship with a homeless, schizophrenic classical musician, Nathaniel Ayers.

Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, is an old-school news guy in the tradition of legendary columnists Mike Royko of Chicago and Jimmy Breslin of New York. This means he is no pundit but instead favors getting his butt out of the newsroom (you'd be surprised how rare that is) to dig up character-driven stories and, whenever possible, to poke a sharp stick in the eye of authority. Writing two to three consistently good columns a week is one of the hardest jobs in journalism, and Lopez is very good at it. (complete review by Edward Humes)