Hilton Obenzinger

If you thought San Francisco is a wild place nowadays, you should've seen it 200 years ago! Or at least that's the impression one gets from the stories in this book, which are introduced as a small selection of the (mostly lost) Victor Historical Archives.

The seven stories that follow are all first-person accounts from various times in Frisco's history, starting with a Spanish missionary's account from 1776 and finishing with a labor organizer's experience during the Great Quake (and Fire) of 1906.

There are several strengths to the book, starting the some interesting characters who populate its pages. Among them is Cannibal Eliot, a New England man with some peculiar tattoos, whose passivity seems to be a mask of its own. There's also a stubborn German undertaker, a politcally savvy cathouse madam, a demented though kindly monk, and several others.

The book is also fascinating as history, reflecting in its short narratives the way that social and political forces have shaped the city, and the role of clever, ambitious men in manipulating those forces.

Overall, a pretty engaging set of stories that may provide some new perspective on a great American city.… (meer)