San Francisco: The Unknown City - Softcover

Krist, Josh

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1551521881 ISBN 13: 9781551521886

Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005

Synopsis

Arsenal’s Unknown City series of alternative guidebooks designed for tourists and hometowners alike turns its attention to the City by the Bay: San Francisco, where stories of notorious murders, city hall scandals, and untold tales of Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, and Castro Street share pages with secret dining pleasures, shopping meccas, and nightclub hotspots.

From the Summer of Love back in the 1960s to the Winter of Love in 2004, when the mayor of San Francisco made the city the center of the nation’s gay marriage debate, San Francisco has consistently been one of America’s most colorful and offbeat urban oases. From pot dispensaries in the Lower Haight to the nightspots in the heavily Hispanic Mission district to private karaoke rooms in Japan Town, all of San Francisco’s hidden nooks and crannies are exposed.

There’s info on the Castro district, the heartland of America’s gay community; the city’s hot restaurant scene, home to arguably the best dining in the nation; tidbits on nearby Napa wineries; multi-level sex clubs; and the alleged whereabouts of active opium dens. There’s also the story of the confrontation between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst at the St. Francis Hotel, when Hearst refused Welles’ offer of tickets to the premiere of Citizen Kane; the legacy of Alcatraz and legendary prison escape attempts; and notes on San Francisco icons like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Building. Ebullient and chock-a-block with facts and figures, this book raises a glass to life in the City by the Bay.

Two-color throughout; includes a BART transportation route map.

Helene Goupil and Josh Krist are editor and publisher, respectively, of InsideOut Travel magazine, a bimonthly online travel publication that caters to the traveler/adventurer at heart.  Helene, Josh, and InsideOut (www.insideoutmag.com) are based in San Francisco.

About this title

About the Author

Josh Krist is the publisher of InsideOut Travel Magazine, a bimonthly online travel publication that caters to the traveler/adventurer at heart. InsideOut also publishes pop-up mini-guidebooks. An avid traveler, Josh has more than ten years of editing, reporting and writing experience. He is based in San Francisco. Helene Goupil is the founding editor of Inside Out Travel Magazine, a bimonthly online travel publication that caters to the traveler/adventurer at heart. Inside Out also publishes pop-up mini-guidebooks. Helene is based in San Francisco.

Review

One guidebook is never enough for a single trip. Frommer's is great for pre-departure planning. Some swear by "Lonely Planet" or "Let's Go" to help them find accommodation as they travel. But LP's forte is nuts-and-bolts information, not embellishment, so it makes pretty dry beach reading. Vancouver's own Arsenal Pulp Press fills this void with its "Unknown City" series. The books don't advise on where to stay, how to get around, or list the top sightseeing spots. Rather, they act like a friend who lives in the city you're visiting. They tell you the really juicy stuff.?"The Georgia Straight"--Carolyn Ali "Georgia Straight "

Edition details

• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1551521881
• ISBN 13: 9781551521886
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240
• Editor: Goupil Helene