1906 (novel) facts for kids
First edition cover
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| Author | James Dalessandro |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | San Francisco earthquake |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Chronicle Books |
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Publication date
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2004 |
| Media type | Print Audiobook E-book |
| Pages | 368 |
| ISBN | 0811843130 |
| OCLC | 53231790 |
| 820 | |
| LC Class | PS |
1906 is an exciting historical novel written by James Dalessandro in 2004. It tells a story based on the real events of the huge San Francisco earthquake and fire that happened in 1906. Before writing the book, the author had already created a detailed plan and some chapters. He even tried to get it made into a movie in 1998.
Contents
Behind the Story: How the Book Was Made
James Dalessandro shared that his book was partly inspired by a non-fiction book from 1989. This earlier book was written by Gladys Hansen, who was in charge of the Museum of the City of San Francisco.
When Dalessandro was looking for information in 1996, he found Hansen's book, Denial of Disaster, in a bookstore. He also did a lot of his own careful research. For example, scenes in the book where people lay in shock in Golden Gate Park after the earthquake, surrounded by their belongings, were inspired by real events. The famous singer Enrico Caruso was found wandering in the park. He had slept there after the Palace Hotel was destroyed.
Dalessandro said he used a lot of research but also his imagination. The book's descriptions were put together from old letters and observations. He noticed that people who lost their homes would save what was important to them. This included things like their favorite cooking pan, old clocks, and pets. Some even put bathtubs on roller skates and filled them with their treasures!
When asked about San Francisco in 1906, Dalessandro said it was "Paris and part Dodge City". This meant it was a fancy and modern city, but also had rough areas with fights and problems. He explained that the city had some unfair situations and investigations going on. He made these real-life problems happen faster in his story and changed the names of the people involved.
Dalessandro also found that the official number of people killed by the earthquake and fire, which was 478 for over 100 years, was wrong. In 2005, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed with him and Hansen. They officially changed the death count to over 3,000 people.
What the Story Is About
This novel takes place during the time of the big San Francisco earthquake and fire. It's a story about unfairness, love, getting even, helping others, and even a mystery. It uses new facts that have been found, which change what people thought happened before and after the earthquake on April 18, 1906.
The story is told by a reporter named Annalisa Passarelli. She describes San Francisco during the Gilded Age. This was a time of great wealth and change. You see everything from the fancy houses on Nob Hill to the wild area called the Barbary Coast, which had gambling and crime. The book also shows the arrival of Enrico Caruso and the San Francisco Metropolitan Opera.
The main part of the story is about the disagreements between different groups in the city before the earthquake. These problems continue even as the city burns afterward.
Annalisa Passarelli works as a music critic for The Evening Bulletin newspaper. She is secretly helping the police gather proof about unfair actions by the mayor, Eugene Schmitz. The Chief of Detectives, Byron Fallon, hopes to arrest the mayor and other dishonest city leaders all at once. But he is killed while looking into a murder near the waterfront.
After his father's death, Hunter, who went to Stanford and is an amateur detective, decides to continue his father's mission. Hunter's brother, Christian, helps lead "The Brotherhood." This is a group of honest police officers who want to stop the unfairness in the city. Annalisa and Hunter ask The Brotherhood for help. They find important evidence, and at the same time, Annalisa and Hunter start to like each other. Before they can use the information, the earthquake hits, and the city becomes very chaotic.
Possible Movie Plans
The Idea for a Film
The idea for a movie script came to Dalessandro when he was researching 1906. He had already finished a detailed plan and six chapters of the novel. His manager suggested that because the movie Titanic was so successful, this project would also be popular.
When the movie idea was presented to film companies in July 1998, there was a quick competition to buy the rights. Within 24 hours, a script was sold to Warner Bros. Pictures. The film producer, Len Amato, wanted Dalessandro to write at least three different versions of the script. After finishing these, Dalessandro went back to writing the novel, which was published in 2004.
Making the Film Happen
The movie was expected to cost about $200 million to make. Because it was such a huge project, Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, and Warner Bros. Pictures were all going to help pay for it. This would have been the first time Pixar worked on a live-action movie. It would also have been the first time Disney and Warner Bros. worked together since the movie The Prestige.
Brad Bird was announced as the director. He paused his work on 1906 to direct and help write the animated movie Ratatouille in 2007. He officially signed on to the 1906 project in March 2008. At that time, Warner Bros. booked all the sound studios at their Burbank lot for the movie. However, later that spring, Warner Bros. quietly canceled the bookings. Brad Bird continued to rewrite the script to make the story a bit smaller for a movie.
In 2009, MTV News reported that Brad Bird was looking for places to film. Information from Dalessandro suggested the movie might be filmed in Vancouver, New Zealand, or Australia.
In 2011, Brad Bird said the movie project was still being worked on. He explained that it was hard to make the story shorter while still keeping it true to the book. He felt the story was so big it almost needed to be a TV series. But he also thought it needed to be seen on a big screen.
In February 2012, it was shared that a new version of Dalessandro's script was written by Michael Hirst. Brad Bird was rewriting it again. Disney and Pixar have left the project, and it is now uncertain if Warner Bros. Pictures will make the film.
Could It Still Happen?
In June 2018, Brad Bird mentioned that it might be possible to adapt the book as a TV series. He also thought the earthquake part could be made into a live-action movie.
