For students and young adults parting such a small, supportive community, the wide world outside of Benicia can come off as an isolating place. For one BHS grad, alone in the outer boroughs of New York City, it was a world where you might not know your neighbors names, or could turn a blind eye to the person sleeping in your doorway. This neighborhood was a striking contrast to our tight knit little town by the bay until one day, shovel in hand, she built her own community. On a vacant plot of land, tucked between tenement buildings and high-rises in her Brooklyn neighborhood, she found people connecting over the fundamental act of producing food. In her new novel Eat the City, author Robin Shulman delves deep into the colorful histories of food production across New York, including many of today's underground (or rooftop) gardening operations.
This Sunday, Shulman will be returning to Benicia to discuss her research on food culture and to sign copies of her book. The event is being hosted by Bookshop Benicia, a longtime local landmark with a recent change of address. This will be the first event at the shop's new First Street location. Bookstore owner Christine Mayall has high hopes for the new space and the debut book signing. "Like the food cultures Shulman writes of, bookstores are also institutions for the community. We are excited to have Robin speak at our new home downtown. --It will also be a test of how many people we can fit in the new shop!"
Shulman's novel, released in July of this year, has already garnered critics attention. Author Annia Ciezadlo calls it a "brilliant, transformative book [that] weaves history, journalism, and storytelling into a secret atlas of New York… A profound, surprising, and exquisitely written exploration of how food and its makers, even in the unlikeliest places, keep all of us human.”
Join us in welcoming Shulman back to Benicia this Sunday, September 16 at Bookshop Benicia, located at 636 First Street, and pick up your copy of Eat the City: a tale of the fishers, foragers, butchers, farmers, poultry minders, sugar refiners, can cutters, bee keepers, winemakers and brewers who built New York City. Event begins at 4 pm. Please RSVP by calling 707-747-5155.