"The Commissions" Book Discussion

Please join us for a salon-style Book Discussion of WNP Book Club on Sunday, October 26, 2025 from 4:00-7:00pm!

We’ll gather at Problem Library’s beautiful Inner Sunset District space to discuss The Commissions by Paul Madonna, WNP Book Club’s featured title for October that can be purchased at a 10% discount in-person at Green Apple Books on Clement Street or Books on the Park on 9th Avenue.

Part of the Emit Hopper Mystery series, The Commissions takes us on an illustrated tour of San Francisco with many stops in the western neighborhoods as we solve a who-done-it together.

Picture it: Amsterdam, 2019. Former rock star turned artist Emit Hopper’s life has taken yet another strange turn. His old friend, the legendary San Francisco private detective Ronnie Gilbert, is dead, and his killer has just been acquitted. But when a disheveled acquaintance from Ronnie’s past walks into Emit’s shop, a puzzling mystery resurfaces, twenty years cold.

Then, we’re transported back to San Francisco, 1999, to when Emit and Ronnie first met. Emit has returned to taking commissions drawing people’s houses, only to be strong-armed by a shady police lieutenant into acting as her off-the-books spy. On top of that, a strange young woman claiming to be his daughter refuses to leave him alone. From there unfolds an intricate tale of corruption and murder that leads to an explosive scandal, with consequences that, two decades hence, are finally revealed.

And yes, author Paul Madonna will join us for the evening! Light refreshments themed around the book will be served, and the discussion will be led by Sean Connelly, Humanities lecturer emeritus at San Francisco State University, and WNP’s Executive Director Nicole Meldahl, supported by historic photographs from the OpenSFHistory archive, related activities and listening experiences, and more. Even if you didn’t read the book (although we strongly encourage that you do), we bet you’ll enjoy an evening communing with neighborhood bibliophiles.

This event is free but donations are always helpful and RSVPs are appreciated so we know how many people to expect. Questions, requests, or recommendations? Email Nicole Meldahl: nicole@outsidelands.org.

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WNP Book Club is the perfect excuse to read books and commune around a shared sense of place. Launched in January 2025, this club is a partnership between Western Neighborhoods Project, your friend community history nonprofit; Sean Connelly, Humanities lecturer emeritus at San Francisco State University; Problem Library, an arts and education space for people of all-ages; and Green Apple Books. All of our featured books can be purchased at a 10% discount from Green Apple on Clement Street and Books on the Park on 9th Avenue. We read one book that has a (sometimes abstract) connection to local history every two months. And, on the second Saturday of the month, WNP hosts either a Silent Reading Party or a salon-style Book Discussion in connection with every book. And yes, there is a limited-edition bookmark for everyone who participates! Learn more about WNP Book Club on our website.