cover image Travelers' Tales San Francisco

Travelers' Tales San Francisco

. Travelers' Tales Guides, $17.95 (432pp) ISBN 978-1-885211-08-8

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. (June)