Customer Reviews

San Francisco Stories: Tales of the City

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This collection contains around twenty-five stories, a few poems, and numerous photos dealing with San Francisco from around 1860 to 1990. The authors include Tom Wolf, Amy Tan, Jack Kerouac, Randy Shilts, Jack London, and Mark Twain. Some of the stories are travel narratives, but most are in the form of personal essay. None of the stories are obviously fiction, although I suspect that literary license was freely taken by some. No single topic or time period is given inordinate attention, and the stories provide vivid accounts of life in Chinatown, hippies, fortune seekers in the 1870s, and modern politics. The longest entry is Frances Fitzgerald's recounting of the outbreak of the AIDS virus, and the medical and political reactions in the Castro. The story is captivating. As with any collection, there are entries that did not impress me, but might be enjoyed by someone else.

I bought this book on a short vacation to San Francisco. I knew little about the city, and my reason for going was a low air fare. After reading these diverse stories (not all of which are flattering to the city), I feel like I know much more about the city and people than if I had read a travel guide, a straight history, or a fictional acount. Editor John Miller has done a great job picking and arranging the stories. I am so impressed with this collection that I am getting other books in this series (New Orleans, Alaska, Chicago), even though I have no special interest in any of the places.

It's a very good collection of writings about San Francisco - not necessarily always great literature - though there is some very good writing indeed. Some of the pieces are "just" very good journalism - topical, inciteful, well-written. So if you want to learn more about the atmosphere and the arguments in the Castro when AIDS emerged or discover more about San Francisco's very own brand of narcissism, this is the book. It's a very good read.