2009 Selection
Dave Eggers
What is the What

Dave Eggers’ highly-acclaimed novel What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is the 2009 selection for One Book One Marin. This story of the lost boys of the Sudan follows the life of Valentino Achak Deng as he was chased from his village at age seven and forced to trek across Africa under the most harrowing circumstances.

2008 Selection
Amy Tan
Saving Fish From Drowning

Saving Fish from Drowning, set in Burma, is a provocative and
mesmerizing tale about what is real and what is make believe — and the profound answers one seeks when things seemingly fall apart. Amy Tan has fashioned a distinctive fictional landscape, where Asia meets America, and where the traditional past encounters the shape-shifting present. In the end, Tan takes all readers to that place in their own hearts where hope is found.

2007 Selection
Isabel Allende
Daughter of Fortune

Isabel Allende’s Daughter of Fortune follows the story of Eliza Sommers. Born and reared in Chile in a rigid household, she follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush of 1849 – a danger-filled quest that will become a momentous journey of transformation for Eliza. Daughter of Fortune is rich in historic detail for a pivotal period in California history. It is filled with critical topics of our day: the status of women, diversity, multilingualism, immigration.