Customer Reviews

San Francisco Bizarro: A Guide to Notorious Sites, Lusty Pursuits, and Downright Freakiness in the City by the Bay

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I'll start by saying I like this book. I bought it yesterday and did not sleep last night for reading it, even though I had a very important meeting this morning. Boulware's look at San Francisco is entertaining. But it's not exactly fresh. This book tries to take over where Eldritch Weirde's "A Guide to Mysterious San Francisco" left off several years ago, but falls severely short of the mark.

Perhaps what annoys me, or irritates me or alienates me about this book is the fact that it is written from an outsider's point of view. Boulware writes many of his articles from an "us vs. them" point of view, the "Us" in question being intelligent, right-minded people and the "Them" being the freaks from San Francisco. The tone is not reverent, but mocking. Boulware belittles us at every turn, whether making fun of the way we dress while dining late-night at Sparky's, or swimming the Bay with the Dolphin Club. Boulware treats San Franciscan's like his own private freak show. It's obvious that he's not from around here.

That said, the book is still entertaining and chock full of interesting facts. It will take you to places you wouldn't find in an ordinary guide book and you may or may not be the better for it.

For a real treat, a reverent, loving guide to SF strangeness, pick up the aforementioned book by Dr. Weirde. It's out of print, so it will take some hunting, but it's well worth it.

I had a few extra days in San Francisco on a recent trip, so I got this hilarious and irreverent guide to the "unknown" San Francisco. Boulware gives us the insider's tour of weird Chinatown bars, the Coltrane Museum, the scary Musee Mechanique, wife-swapping motels for swingers and much much more. With hours, phone numbers and directions for the very intrepid explorer. A must for even the most jaded Bay Area lifers.

It lives up to its name. But it must be an old book. Didn't feel current.

Reading this book has put my life back in the fast lane to simian utopia. I have purchased two copies one for reading and one to keep safely sealed in plastic. Mr. Boulware may very well be the next John Updike. SF Bizarro is both true and touching in it's ginger yet whimsical exploration journey into the very soul of San Fran. I hope to find Mr. Boulware very soon and let him know how much we have in common. SF Bizarro is not just a "guide to freakiness" it is a self help guide to just being you in the topsy-turvy quagmire, nay, rock-n-roll soup that is Frisco. Peace