I was fortunate to catch a reading, by David Benioff, of his newest book City of Thieves at a local book store. Benioff is an accomplished writer. His first novel, The 25th Hour became a film directed by Spike Lee. Additionally, he has written many screenplays including: The Kite Runner, and the forthcoming films "Brothers" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". He was born and raised in New York City and currently lives with his wife, actress Amanda Peet, and their daughter, in Los Angeles. [Note: Amanda Peet and their young daughter also attended the book reading. It was a fun sidelight to watch his family, watch him, as he spoke.]
Set in Leningrad, during the siege by the Nazis in World War II, City of Thieves gives a microscopic, insightful, historical look into the people, and culture, of this time. Though the premise of the story is a rather frightening and dark adventure for the two main characters Lev Beniov and Koyla Vlasov. The young men were thrown together after being captured on the streets after curfew, and without proper identification. Their ticket to freedom involved a dangerous challenge in search of a dozen fresh eggs for one of the colonel's daughter's wedding cake. The search leads them through the countryside where along the way the reader is given glimpses into how a culture survives in the most difficult of times by retaining its humor, theater, music, and literature.
In the spirit of how new media is being used to communicate in a variety of ways, I am going to let you hear more about this story directly from the author himself through the attached You Tube videos:
City of Thieves is a great book. I strongly recommend it for you and your book clubs!
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