San Francisco Stories — Chronicle Books

Every city has its stories, but San Francisco seems to have more than most. It falls down. It burns up. It goes Beatnik in the fifties and crazy in the sixties -- but it remains elegant throughout. "San Francisco Stories" collects the most outstanding writing about the city from some of the most distinguished authors of the last 150 years: from Jack Kerouac on working on the railroad to Anne Lamott on getting kicked out of the cafe scene; and from Jack London on the 1906 earthquake to Tom Wolfe on the "Acid Tests" of the 1960s. Reading this rich collection -- now with a striking new cover -- is like taking a ride across the Golden Gate Bridge into the heart of the city, past and present, with all of its spectacular views, fascinating history, and outrageous inhabitants.