One Book One Community
is what it sounds like. Our entire community reads the same book and
then gets together to talk about it. The book for 2012 is "the Cellist of
Sarajevo" by Steven Galloway. The fictional novel tells the story of
ordinary lives in difficult times. It was inspired the true story of a cellist
(pictured above) who played in bombed out buildings during the siege of
Sarajevo in the 1990s. One Book One Community Weekend is on October 12-13. Visit their site for more information.
"The Cellist of Sarajevo" has become an international
bestseller, but did you know that Vedran
Smailović, the Cellist of Sarajevo, is furious at
Steven Galloway for what he sees as stealing
his story. Galloway's book never names the Cellist and the story only
revolves around this anonymous musician, but Smailović
was so angry that he threatened to burn his famous cello as a protest. The situation brings up interesting questions. Does Smailović deserve compensation from Galloway? Artists draw
inspiration from life, but is there a line over which inspiration becomes
exploitation?
