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San Francisco Stories
From one of America's great writers, this delightful collection - the first of its kind - contains twenty-three adventurous tales set in the San Francisco Bay Area. If San Francisco has captured the world's imagination through the hardboiled stories of Dashiell Hammett, the prose and poetry of Jack Kerouac and his fellow Beats, through Orson Welles' Lady From Shanghai and Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, it is as a romantic city of vast suspension bridges and foggy back alleys, not as the wild west of Jack London's day. Pre-quake San Francisco was a tough town, and Jack London - hobo, sailor, oyster pirate, hard drinker - was pretty tough, too. Although famous for his stories of the Klondike and the Pacific, London wrote extensively about his home base. This collection contains such classic stories as 'The Apostate' and 'South of the Slot' as well as extracts from John Barleycorn and The Sea-Wolf. The overlooked 1905 story cycle Tales of the Fish Patrol is included in its entirety. London's vivid eyewitness report of the Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire - which destroyed forever the old city - stands as a fitting epilogue. Discover a vanished San Francisco in these wonderful stories of Jack London. Selected as one of the 16 BOOKS TO READ IF YOU LOVE SAN "Most of us know San Francisco as a soft foggy charmfest of a city. But it wasn’t always so tame. Jack London’s San Francisco Stories chronicles the tougher annals of SF’s pre-earthquake days, and includes Jack London’s firsthand account of the city burning in the wake of the 1906 quake. Either a must-read or must-avoid for anyone waiting for the next shaker. In this collection, you can find the San Francisco that is no longer, but still haunts the back allies. Recommended True lovers of San Francisco [and] neighborhood dive bar drinkers." —ANISSE GROSS, BuzzFeed.com "A meaty, compactly packaged book. If you don't have these stories, a great intro to a city that was lost in the 1906 quake and fire, by the most famous author born in town." —DON HERRON, the San Francisco Dashiell Hammett Tour "This collection by scholar and writer Matthew Asprey finally brings together London's best writing about the coastal communities of Northern California that he loved so well." —RODGER JACOBS, Journalist, Author, Jack London Scholar
380 pages, Paperback
First published October 11, 2010
19 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
Jack London
7,662 books7,688 followersJohn Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 16, 2020
A wonderful collection of stories in and around San Francisco.
It would be difficult to pick a favorite.
It culminates with:
EPILOGUE:
18 April 1906
The Story of an Eyewitness
Upon hearing the first news of the earthquake, Collier’s telegraphed Jack London who lived forty miles above San Francisco requesting that he go there and give a first hand description of the devastation.
For anyone who knows and loves that beautiful city, reading the words he submitted is overwhelming.
For days and nights he roamed the streets recording what he saw. The remains from the earthquake, then the walls of fire that destroyed whatever was left.
The strangely calm demeanor of the refugees carrying the few possessions they attempted to salvage.
It was thoroughly compelling.
It would be difficult to pick a favorite.
It culminates with:
EPILOGUE:
18 April 1906
The Story of an Eyewitness
Upon hearing the first news of the earthquake, Collier’s telegraphed Jack London who lived forty miles above San Francisco requesting that he go there and give a first hand description of the devastation.
For anyone who knows and loves that beautiful city, reading the words he submitted is overwhelming.
For days and nights he roamed the streets recording what he saw. The remains from the earthquake, then the walls of fire that destroyed whatever was left.
The strangely calm demeanor of the refugees carrying the few possessions they attempted to salvage.
It was thoroughly compelling.
February 5, 2016
Such an amazing city!
September 18, 2017
Great collection of adventure stories from the Bay area.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews