Silicon Alleys: Selected Metro Silicon Valley Columns, 2005-2020

by Gary Singh

In 2005, the editors of Metro Silicon Valley, San Jose's alternative weekly newspaper, gave Gary Singh his own column, "Silicon Alleys," to explore the underbelly of San Jose from a perspective only a creative native could offer. To this day, he still writes the column every week. Now a selection of Gary's greatest hits, over 250 columns in chronological order, is available in one mammoth volume, hand-picked by the columnist. Following a gnarly foreword by cyberpunk science fiction pioneer Rudy Rucker, a glorious mishmash of humanity emerges. UFO researchers sit right alongside rock stars, repo men and professional wrestlers. Buddhist scholars hold column space with women's drinking clubs. Abandoned strip malls return to life. From punk rock to high art, from dive bars to luxury digs, from literary vibes to forgotten history, no other body of work more aptly sorts out the guts of America's 10th largest city than Gary's weekly column.

434 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2020

About the author

As a working scribe, Gary Singh's byline has appeared over 1400 times, including newspaper columns, travel essays, art and music criticism, profiles, business journalism, lifestyle articles, poetry and short fiction. He is the author of The San Jose Earthquakes: A Seismic Soccer Legacy (2015, The History Press) and was recently a Steinbeck Fellow in Creative Writing at San Jose State University. He still lives in San Jose.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary and I went to music school together. I’m rooting for him. That admitted, if there’s a better book on San Jose written or otherwise assembled, let me know. I can’t find one. Gary’s personae, the Anti-Man About Town, the Urban Blight Exploration Junkie, and his reporter’s voice find the remarkable in what would be easy to dismiss as unremarkable. Places like Hamilton and Meridian, Saratoga Avenue between Kiely and Stevens Creek, and “Cambrian 36” get treatment in these columns that will make you glad to discover other people wonder about those places too. The art and music of San Jose is chronicled exhaustively here, as are the life and times of the San Jose Earthquakes, from 1974 to today, the subject of another one of Gary’s books, itself a must read for South Bay folks.

One of the best things about this book is the way it will expand your list of books and movies to check out. There are a lot of places to go from here. I wasn’t a regular reader of Gary’s column before this deep dive, but now I am. Great stuff, Gary.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you live or have lived in San Jose, you need this book. 15 years of San Jose history, literature, architecture , landscapes and punk rock folklore viewed through Gary’s east- west outlook on life. That unique perspective fuels Gary’s love hate relationship with our visible suburban, strip mall culture and reveals a breadth of culture befitting a “big” city. You just have to get out there and walk it. If you’re not up for all 400 square miles of it, Gary covers it for you, here. Read it a renew your own love hate relationship with our little farm town capital of Silicon Valley town.

[Jen Ghastin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One always begins to forgive a place as soon as it's left behind" (Charles Dickens). I returned to San Jose after college the same year Gary Singh started writing the Silicon Alleys column for the Metro - in 2005. An avid reader and aspiring writer, I adored the column - the wit, the quirky subjects, and the philosophical musings. I think Singh and I share one or two basic beliefs that kept me turning the 404 pages: 1. The interconnectedness of everything. 2. The awe of synchronicity. If you've lived in San Jose - if you've loved or loathed the place - this book is for you. Though this book is marketed as a collection of Singh's columns from 2005-2020, it's more than that. There's a story here. The anti-man-about-town, the urban-blight-exploration-junkie embarks on a quest to find beauty in the ugly, afflict the comfortable, and tell the ultimate truth from everyman's point of view. Well, maybe not everyman's. From Gary Singh's point of view, which trust me, you're going to want to hear.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved Gary's writing for years, and was always impatient for the next issue of Metro so I could see what he was writing about next! I have been waiting for this book for years so I could have his writing all in one place. If you live in or love San Jose, the book is a must have, and if you don't know much about San Jose you need this book to learn more about it.

[Kenn Heller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having grown up in San Jose a bit earlier than the author, it was wonderful to read this compendium of articles taken from years of his columns. Many memories of streets and stores and restaurants that I used to go to, hang out at, and even drink at... although we weren't supposed to be drinking. Great perspectives on the Silicon Valley and life within it. Thank you Gary for transporting me back to that place that I will always know the way to.