David Brooks to speak in Petaluma

When renowned author and commentator David Brooks visits Petaluma on Thursday, May 2, his appearance at Copperfield’s Books will not be the usual book-reading meet-and-greet. Co-sponsored by Petaluma’s Literacyworks, the fundraiser/conversation will take place at 8 a.m., a full two-hours before the store officially opens, and will include breakfast along with the opportunity to meet Brooks and hear him talk about his latest book, “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life.”

The event is part of Literacyworks’ ongoing lecture series, which has brought to town such notable authors and thinkers as Daniel Elsberg, Barbara Lee, Isabelle Allende, Michael Krasny, Jackie Speier, Dave Eggers, Leland Faust and Steven Pinker. The series has rapidly become one of Petaluma’s most anticipated events, held in an array of spaces, large and small, across the city of Petaluma, and occasionally elsewhere in Sonoma County.

The May 2 conversation with Brooks, however, marks the first time breakfast has been involved.

Arguably his most personal book to date, “The Second Mountain” sprung from a personal journey Brooks found himself on a few years ago. It was after the collapse of his marriage, followed by his conversion to Christianity, and a realization that despite having achieved a high degree of financial and vocational success, his focus on that success had left him with few meaningful relationships and little sense of satisfaction and connection. In the book, the first mountain is the quest for that outward kind of achievement. The second is the search for a life of service and moral purpose, from which, he ultimately concludes, true joy and satisfaction can finally be achieved.

Brooks is best known as a longtime journalist and editor (The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly), a weekly PBS NewsHour commentator and New York Times op-ed columnist. His books include “Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There,” “The Road to Character,” “On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense” and “The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement.”

Originally from Toronto, Ontario, in Canada, Brooks relocated to New York City as a child, where he was raised in the Jewish faith, but as an adult rarely practiced that faith formally. Over the years, Brooks has been defined as right wing by liberals and “too leftist” by conservatives, but has generally described himself as a centrist conservative.

In interviews that Brooks has given over the last few weeks, he has talked about a time in his life, after the divorce, when he recognized the depths of his own loneliness and lack of connection with others. (Brooks’ scheduled interview with the Argus-Courier, by the way, had to be cancelled due to its unfortunate overlap with the release of the Mueller Report, and Brooks’ sudden need to read hundreds of pages of semi-redacted text). That loneliness, he says, was illustrated by his realization that in his small apartment, the cupboards and utensil drawers in the kitchen were not filled with silverware, plates and other implements of dining or hospitality, but with Post-it notes, notepads and other work-related items.

In response to his recognition that he’d spent his life seeking success, but that even having a book on the New York Times bestseller lists had not brought him a sense of true satisfaction, he began to seek out the stories of those who’ve found a strong sense of joyfulness in their lives. From their tales, which became the core of the new book, he discovered the notion of the Second Mountain, the effort to live a life based on the service of others rather than of oneself.

In early reviews, the book has been praised for its warmth and candid openness. Its tone and subject make “The Second Mountain” an appropriate fit for the Literacyworks Lecture Series, since the nonprofit is itself founded on the notion of helping others. Powered by the mission statement, “to provide dynamic resources and opportunities that give adults, families and children a foundation for lifelong learning and achievement,” the organization serves adults who seek fresh opportunity and fulfillment through increasing their own literacy skills. Along with its many current programs and projects, Literacyworks is currently collaborating with Santa Rosa Junior College to create the Literacyworks Center for Adult and Family Literacy.