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It Can't Happen Here Searching for Democracy DISCUSSION GUIDE it can’t happen here WELCOME! OVERVIEW Welcome to California Reads, a statewide pro- California Reads is a new program of Cal Humanities developed in gram that brings Californians together to ex- partnership with the California Center for the Book and the Cali- plore important topics through reading and fornia State Library. It invites Californians from all walks of life discussion. This year, our theme is Searching For throughout our state to participate in reading and discussion pro- Democracy. What does democracy mean to us? grams and related activities hosted by libraries, schools, colleges, What challenges has American democracy faced bookstores and other community institutions. in the past? How can we strengthen our democ- racy in the future? How can we talk and work We have selected a slate of books this year to stimulate a thought- together despite our differences? What can we ful reflection of, and lively discussion among, friends and neigh- learn from the experiences of others who have bors, family and strangers about the past, present, and future of struggled with these questions? democracy. Five thought-provoking books were chosen from a pool of over 300 titles nominated by members of the public, and based California Reads offers a choice of five superb upon the final recommendations of an advisory group of librarians, books to act as a springboard for community authors, scholars, publishers and critics. discussion. These works include fiction as well as non-fiction, and were written by men and These five books were selected: women of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints. There are many ways to experience and explore • The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution: A Fully Annotated what democracy means, strives for in its prom- Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Amendments, and Se- ise, and requires for its success. No singular lections from The Federalist Papers, by Richard Beeman. Annotated by book can capture all of these complexities, and one of the nation’s foremost Constitutional scholars, this compact each selection offers the reader an opportunity edition of our nation’s founding documents provides text and con- to discover new perspectives by inviting us to text for readers seeking to understand the framework of our de- think about individual responsibility, the im- mocracy as well as its meaning, past and present. portance of a free press, the collective good, and • Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. what it is needed from each of us to sustain a Houston. A heartbreaking and compelling memoir about the Japa- healthy democracy. nese American internment experience as seen through the eyes of young girl, this personal story bears witness to a failure of Ameri- Cal Humanities and the California Center for can democracy. the Book are partnering on this project because • A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in we feel books–and the conversations they spark– Disaster, by Rebecca Solnit. A masterwork of narrative nonfiction by can make a difference in the world. We hope this a contemporary California writer reaches some surprising conclu- will be just the first of many statewide conversa- sions about our need for community and common purpose, which tions under our California Reads banner, provid- she argues are fundamental to democratic forms of social and po- ing Californians with opportunities to read and litical life. discuss stories and ideas that matter. Whether • It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis. This underappreciated you are joining the discussion through a pro- classic by one of America’s greatest novelists, first published in gram at your local library, bookstore, school or 1935, imagines a chillingly undemocratic America. It details the elsewhere, we hope you will be inspired by these rise of a populist politician as he creates a fascist regime, and re- books and enjoy a new connection with your minds us of the fragility of our democratic institutions. community and your state. • Lost City Radio, by Daniel Alarcon. A haunting novel by a young California writer explores the aftermath of a traumatic civil war in With gratitude, a fictitious South American country, and raises questions about the importance of historical knowledge, collective memory, and public access to information in a democratic society. Ralph Lewin The discussion guides for each book—like this one—provide an President and CEO overview of the book and author, a series of discussion questions Cal Humanities to begin conversations, a brief author interview, bibliographies and other supplemental resources for interested readers. A K-12 cur- riculum guide for each book is also available to further support classroom activities. All of these materials, along with additional Mary Menzel resources and information about Searching for Democracy and Director California Reads public programs and activities at libraries California Center for the Book and other community venues, can be found at our web site at www.calhum.org/searchingfordemocracy. OVERVIEW Leading into the national 2012 elections, Searching for Democracy is the culmination of a two year-long initiative that pro- vides Californians with various ways to explore how the humanities can provide insight and opportunities to converse about the nature, state and needs of our vibrant American democracy. Cal Humanities and its partners will explore these complexities—through a series of local, regional, and statewide humanities-inspired activities—to accomplish a greater understanding of what is needed to sustain a healthy democracy in an increasingly interdependent world. Students, families and people from all walks of life will explore—online and in person—what discoveries and lessons lie in works of fiction and nonfiction, provocative cultural exhibits and public conversations. The Cal Humanities website (www.calhum.org) will be an online hub for all activities, where participants in events, readers of the initiative’s books, and people new to our effort can learn more and share what they have discovered. Our Searching For Democracy program partners include: California libraries, California Center for the Book, California Histo- ry-Social Science Project, Exhibit Envoy, and Zócalo Public Square, in collaboration with California State Library, California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California Television. about the book about the author It Can’t Happen Here Sinclair Lewis It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Harry Sinclair Lewis was born Lewis, was written during The in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, in Great Depression and published 1885. He was the son of a small in 1935. It is a cautionary tale of town doctor, and his mother the meteoric rise to power of a died when he was six. As a child, fascist politician who eventually as throughout his life, he was a becomes President of the United voracious reader. In 1906, his States. During the presidential friend Upton Sinclair, the suc- election of 1936, Doremus Jes- cessful American writer and sup, a newspaper editor, is baffled to find that many of active socialist, established Helicon Home Colony, a so- the people he knows support the candidacy of a populist cialist community. Lewis briefly suspended his studies demagogue, Berzelius Windrip. When Windrip wins the from Yale University to work at the Colony, and Upton election, there are dire consequences for the nation. He Sinclair’s views on politics and literature had a lasting in- forcibly gains control of Congress and the Supreme Court, fluence on Lewis and his work. After graduating from Yale makes dissent a crime, and, with the aid of his paramilitary University in 1907 Lewis worked for a time as a reporter, group known as The Minute Men, turns the United States then as an editor for several publishers, and wrote articles into a totalitarian state. for popular magazines. He was committed to political and social change throughout his career. Motivated by the totalitarian dictatorships that had recent- ly come to power in Italy and Germany, Lewis felt a sense The publication of Main Street in 1920 secured Sinclair’s of urgency and rushed to finish the book. Upon publication literary reputation as one of America’s great writers. Bab- It Can’t Happen Here sold over 300,000 copies in the United bitt (1922), a study of the complacent American whose States. It sold well in Britain and France but not surpris- individuality has been taken away by the general confor- ingly was banned by the Nazi regime in Germany. mity of everyday life, is thought by many to be Lewis’ best novel. Arrowsmith (1925), Elmer Gantry (1927), and This classic work, written more than 75 years ago, remains Dodsworth (1929) were also thought to be some of his a timely story about the fragility of democracy. It illustrates best. In 1930, Lewis became the first American to receive the ease with which a president-turned-dictator can justify the Nobel Prize in Literature. Upon accepting the prize the suspension of democratic ideals and constitutional law, he warned that writers were “still afraid of any literature all in the name of patriotism. In this post 9/11 world, It which is not a glorification of everything American, a glo- Can’t Happen Here proves to be a shockingly relevant story rification of our faults as well as our virtues.” It Can’t Hap- for today’s times and democracies. In 2007 the novel won pen Here, published in 1935, was Lewis’s last major work. a Prometheus Award celebrating it as a classic work of lib- Toward the end of his life Lewis spent much of his time ertarian science fiction. The New Yorker has called it “not abroad. He struggled with alcoholism and in 1951 he died only Lewis’s most important book, but one of the most in Rome, Italy.
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