Review
Most of the wit and opinions expressed by Don and Betty Martin are obvious and not very controversial, such as their description of Fisherman's Wharf as "a gaudy potpourri of wax museums, novelty rides, fake cable cars, sidewalk T shirts, shirt vendors and souvenir shops. It has all the charm of a cheap carnival midway." Anyone who has visited the Wharf will come to the same conclusion.The Martins are to be commended for including the Mission district because it is rarely found in guidebooks. However, right in the boxed description of the neighborhood they say its boundary on the east is Alabama Street. That is five blocks short of the actual boundary and leaves out the heart of the area which includes the Galleria de la Raza and Studio 24 on Bryant and 24th Streets - and also two of the best-known community murals on York and 24th. The insert map also places the location of, the "Mexican Cultural Center" (which! is really the Mission Cultural Center)' on the wrong side of 24th Street. In noting the special celebrations in th(-neighborhood, the Martins highlight Cinco de Mayo. That's great, but the biggest attraction, the one that draws 500,000 spectators, is Carnival on Memorial Day weekend. The sight, of pulsating bodies covered with strategic feathers doing the samba draws more people than parade floats. Another unique event not mentioned is the Day of the Dead celebration, the first Friday after Halloween. People are dressed as skeletons and special food is prepared to commemorate life and death. Also, the Martins describe the Mission as "heavily Hispanic, with a generous mix of Filipinos, blacks and a scatter of honkeys [sic]." Actually, the biggest influx is ethnic Chinese from Southeast Asia. Other chapters also have mistakes. The Greenwich Steps on Telegraph Hill are the Filbert Steps; the Spreckles Mansion is in Pacific Heights and not in The Haight; the most interesting parts of Clement street start at Arguello Avenue, not 5th Avenue. -- From Independent Publisher
