A Writer's San Francisco: A Guided Journey for the Creative Soul (Hardcover)

~ Ph.D. Eric Maisel (Author), Paul Madonna (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: single koan, earthquake country, City Lights, Bernal Heights, The Onion (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Every writer needs a simpatico environment to be productive, and what better place than that mecca of creativity, San Francisco? The city by the bay has been home to generations of writers, from Rudyard Kipling to Mark Twain to Armistead Maupin. In this lively book, Eric Maisel gives writers the guidance they need to take a literal or figurative soul-renewing sojourn to San Francisco. Maisel, one of America’s foremost creativity coaches, explores the how and why of making an artistic pilgrimage to the city, including the pesky problem of finding the perfect pied-a-terre for writing that elusive masterpiece. Thirty individual essays profile the best sections of the city for pumping up the juices (“The View from Bernal Hill,” “South of Market”), noted literati of the past (“Mark Twain and the Onion”), how to find the perfect landlord, dealing with those inspiration-inhibiting earthquake fears, and much more.

From the Back Cover

"Maisel has a wonderful voice and A Writer's San Francisco reads like a gritty, fluent love letter. He moves seamlessly between thoughtful descriptions of modern San Francisco and the San Francisco of the '60s and '70s in narratives that bring the city alive on the page. His affection and respect for the city are inspiring to all writers and artists, but also to anyone who has ever spent time in San Francisco and fallen in love with her."
-- Chris DeLorenzo, Laguna Writers Workshops

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: New World Library; 1 edition (September 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577315464
• ISBN-13: 978-1577315469
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #591,560 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real find., October 21, 2006

By	Jenna Glatzer "www.jennaglatzer.com" (NY, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I opened the book randomly to page 33, where the first line of the chapter read, "For a year I dated a schizophrenic poet-- let's call her Carol."

This is a travel guide?!

This essay was about a woman who hallucinated roses and poked strangers in the midriff and ended up institutionalized for some time, but who also wrote and recited poetry when she was "sane." And at one reading, a woman came up to her and said, "You are a real poet." It's the validation every writer craves, and it's the theme of this essay. Sure, the setting is San Francisco, but this is no "You must see this fine little café with the lovely murals" guide.

Having been drawn in by this essay, I flipped back to the first page and began reading. It's even more of a niche book than I imagined. It's written for nonreligious Democrat novelists who consider themselves "artists" and love San Francisco. I am precisely none of these things.

Considering how far out of his target market I am, I probably shouldn't have enjoyed this book. But I did. I enjoyed it despite wanting to toss mackerel at his kneecaps a few times. I enjoyed it partly because of that, maybe. What really matters, above all else, is that he's writing about the lives of writers. And even if I roll my eyes at the idea of "artistes" in coffee houses, we're going to have a lot in common.

The experience of walking into a bookstore and finding out someone else has already written the book you were planning to write, for instance. Trying to write even through tragedy and pressures. Missing a fabulous writing opportunity because you were in the wrong place at the right time. Blowing your first public speaking engagement in support of your book. Having conversations about the meanings of words like "haberdashery."

There are brilliant sentences and paragraphs here, things you'll wish you wrote. There are experiences you'll "get" even if you've never had them. This is part of the brotherhood and sisterhood of writers. The part that believes, regardless of what we write and where we live and what demographic boxes we check on subscription forms, that the merits of our work are still important. That those who try to belittle the craft should have their noses rearranged. That writing matters.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Writer Writing for Writers, October 30, 2006

By	Jill Jones (Corona, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just finished reading A Writer's San Francisco and I'll be buying extra copies to give as gifts. I think this one is even better than A Writer's Paris (which BTW was also very good). With A Writer's San Francisco, Eric Maisel manages to weave history, his personal connections to the city and the best of his creativity coaching lessons together into a delicious mix. The wonderful illustrations by Paul Madonna were paired with the essays to compliment them perfectly.
A Writer's Paris made me consider it viable to go to Paris for a writing vacation. A Writer's San Francisco is even bigger than that--it's a writer writing for writers and revealing why it's important to write, how connection to place and events can be so meaningful and rich, and how non-fiction essays can be creative and satisfying.
This really is a great idea--I can hardly wait to read the next city that Maisel profiles from his unique perspective and writer's experience.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Midwest Book Review: December 2006 Issue, December 1, 2006

By	Lori L. Lake "Author of Snow Moon Rising, The... (Portland, Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

From Bernal Hill to Washington Square Park, Alcatraz Island to the West Portal Tunnel, Eric Maisel has traveled physically and metaphorically, and in this beautiful new book, he gives the reader a guided tour of heart, soul, and place.

The physical book is stunningly beautiful. Paul Madonna's colorful drawings of buildings, streets, interiors, and still-life scenes add amazing depth to the narrative. A center foldout shows a typically hilly San Francisco street full of narrow houses and flats with a view to the Golden Gate Bridge. Quotations by Imogen Cunningham, Dylan Thomas, Mark, Twain, and Oscar Wilde on the reverse side attest to the strength and attractions of the city.

Those who have followed Maisel's career, read his books on writing, received his frequent newsletters, and participated in his creativity workshops will be further entranced by this book of reflections, memories, and wise observations, but any author or artist who has fallen in love with a city - or, indeed, any place - will find this "Guided Journey of the Creative Soul" irresistible. Highly recommended. ~Lori L. Lake, Midwest Book Review