San Francisco: A Cultural and Literary History (Cities of the Imagination Series)

Within a generation San Francisco grew from an isolated Mexican trading post with more hills than people into America's major Pacific Coast city. Shaped by entrepreneurs, eccentrics, and visionaries, it became renowned for accommodating those who dared to be different.

THE CITY OF LANDMARKS: the Golden Gate Bridge; the Transamerica Pyramid; the Ferry Building; Mission Dolores; City Hall; Coit Tower; Alcatraz Island; Yerba Buena Gardens.

THE CITY OF PSYCHEDELIA: Ken Kesey and the Acid Tests; the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane; the Trips Festival and the Human Be-In; underground culture and festivals.

THE CITY OF WRITERS: Ina Donna Coolbrith, Mark Twain, Bret Harte, George Sterling; Dashiel Hammett; Kenneth Rexroth; Allen Ginsberg; Herb Caen; Armistead Maupin.