Travelers' Tales San Francisco - Softcover

Habegger, Larry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1885211082 ISBN 13: 9781885211088

Publisher: Travelers' Tales Inc, 1996

Synopsis

Travel essays describe San Francisco, the culture, sites, activities, and the darker side of the city

About this title

Reviews

What better way to prep for a journey than by reading interesting stories about one's destination? As glimpsed here through the eyes of beatniks, hippies, surfers, "lavender cowboys" and talented writers from all walks, San Francisco comes to vivid, complex life. One short story takes the reader surfing in monstrous waves at Ocean Beach; another, through an incredible history of SF's gay culture linked with a tour de force tale of AIDS and devotion. The diverse memoirs range from a dim sum disaster in Chinatown to the hot tub scene in Elgy Gillespie's wonderfully funny debut ("But letting boldness be my friend, I dropped the towel and plunged right in, with one smooth movement and an almighty splash, only to find that nobody was noticing anyway"). A far cry from a traditional guidebook, the tales also delve into the city's nitty-gritty, with accounts of pit-bull fighting, earthquakes, bad trips in the '60s and the dangers and thrills of a glory hole. Carefully chosen Herb Caen bits, news clips and historical details (the bullfights that once took place outside Mission Dolores Chapel, for example) mesh with the fiction pieces and poems to weave a rich fabric of place and time. For either San Francisco first-timers or third-generation natives, this compilation opens many windows on the city and offers great escapist reading. Maps and graphics not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The "Travelers' Tales" series changes its focus from foreign countries to the City by the Bay. San Francisco fits well in the series, which gathers diverse articles to give readers an idea of the flavor of a region rather than offering a "go here, see this" guidebook. The appeal is as much for those who already know the city as for those who plan to visit. This book has wonderful articles about surfing at Ocean Beach, rollerblading at night from Golden Gate Park to downtown, the Presidio, and North Beach. Happily missing are the usual lurid "Only in SF" gossipy pieces, which caricature San Francisco as a mischievous theme park. Prominently featured in the short sidebars is Herb Caen, a longtime columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and well known and trusted as a commentator on the scene. Recommended for travel collections with other "Travelers' Tales" books, and especially for California collections.?Mary Ann Parker. Dept. of Water Resources Law Lib. Sacramento, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Travelers' Tales Inc
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1885211082
• ISBN 13: 9781885211088
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 408
• Editor: O'Reilly James, O'Reilly Sean, Habegger Larry