MASH Goes to San Francisco

M*A*S*H #10

by Richard Hooker, William E. Butterworth III

Vintage TV tie-in paperback

Genres: Fiction, Humor

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1976

About the author

Richard Hooker is the pseudonym of Hiester Richard Hornberger Jr. who was born February 1, 1924 and died November 4, 1997. He was an American writer and surgeon. His most famous work was his novel MASH (1968). The novel was based on his own personal experiences during the Korean War at the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. It was written in collaboration with W. C. Heinz. The novel took 11 years to write. In 1970, and then again from 1972-1983 it was used as the basis for a critically and commercially successful movie and television series of the same name.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A swift read I finished in an evening that still maintained the spirit and quality of its predecessors. The new characters introduced are likeable and few, allowing the story to flow easily to the typical madcap jam up finale that has become a hallmark of the series.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the unfortunate nickname of the latest "Juliet"-character, San Francisco is a pretty good M*A*S*H book, considering its lateness in the series. Like others in the series, the book is mostly set-up: it takes them about 160 pages to get to San Francisco, and once they are there, the book just about ends. Other stock elements are there, but in slightly different ways: as mentioned, there is another pair of "fall-in-love-immediately" new characters and telegrams that move the plot to its conclusion, for instance. Like the Las Vegas and Vienna entries in the series, San Francisco brings back an old character, this time Matthew Framingham, a previous "Romeo" character - but for some reason he has broken up with Monica Fenstermacher. That was rather sad, especially since his characterization was also a bit different from his first appearance. Hopefully, since he lost the new girl to the new guy, he will go back to Monica later (I'll have to read the final books to find out). This book has the most pathos since Maine, which is in its favor. The return of Frank is interesting, but the conclusion of his plotline is quick, even for a M*A*S*H book. The ending as a whole is a bit quick, which is a slight detriment, but we can easily imagine how the other threads resolve. I went into this book with some trepidity, since it was so late in the series, but I was pleasantly surprised (on the whole) with it.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5

An okay entry in the series.
At times it felt even more episodic and random than previous titles.
It had the usual appearances and antics from the regular characters, the plot line that featured Hawkeye, Trapper John and their potential patient (plus family) was definitely most interesting even if it was very minor part of the whole.
The plot had the usual Romeo & Juliet characters (as another reviewer described them , very good simile I must say) that end on a note of marriage.
Overall this was just about passable but it did feel like the author has run out of ideas or interest or both.
The remaining books in the series could be a challenge to finish but we shall see.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another disappointing read in the series.

Only the last 20 or so pages take place in San Fran. Also, the side characters didn't grab my attention.

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This entry is just as bad as the rest. It takes 90% of the book just getting the characters to San Francisco. It only gets a second star due to the return of Frank Burns.

[Don LaFountaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I read this book out of order, and maybe that is why I was not fond of it.

I did not find this book anywhere near as funny as the others I have read. I found the jokes to be old and worn. Also, many of the "footnotes" at the bottom of the pages were plugs for the other "MASH Goes to..." books. I may have missed some information later on as after the 5th time I read a plug, I simply ignored the footnotes. Finally, though it did have some characters in San Francisco for a few moments, the reality is that "MASH" was on it's way to San Francisco only in the last 30 pages, and actually in the city for the last 11.

Unless you are a fan of MASH, (either the books, movie, or the series) you may not enjoy this book. If you are a MASH fan, you may want to read it simply because it is MASH. However, be forewarned. It is not all that wonderful.

[Sabrina Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up for a fun, light read. I love all things MASH, and there were certainly a few good laughs, but I found myself getting distracted while reading it - just not as engaging as I was hoping for. The "Church" that Hot Lips has founded is an interesting development, but overall, I think I enjoy the TV series more!

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books by Butterworth picked up after Mash goes to Maine when Hooker did not want to write anymore. They were much in the spirit of the tv series.