Reviews
Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love by David Talbot
heavenlyspit's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
luisvilla's review against another edition
2.0
This book is simultaneously really good and really frustrating. Good because it covers a lot of ground, and gives you a decent high-level sense of what was happening to the city in an important two-decade period. And it is mostly fairly entertaining. It is bad because the coverage is anecdotal and personality-driven. There is no data; no economics; no sociology except of the most two-bit, BS kind.
As an example, the book goes into some depth on the people behind two politically/racially-motivated killing sprees of the 70s. In passing, the book mentions that SF had mostly been spared the urban riots that had riven a lot of the rest of the country. Also in passing, while hearing stories about music and the Fillmore, you learn that the Western Addition, where most of the city's African-American population lived, was basically destroyed by urban renewal. If you want to read a novel of personalities, the book's approach to these killing sprees is fine. If you actually want to learn about San Francisco, the priorities are all wrong. The people involved are pretty now all dead or in jail - knowing about them is titillating but tells you nothing about the current city. The long-term dynamics (history, economics, etc.) that he book tells you nothing about are still very much with us, and the book tells you basically nothing about them.
I'd still really love to find a good history of the Summer of Love and the 80s in the city, but this is not it. (For the 70s, Randy Shilts' Milk biography is really pretty great - despite being focused on Milk, and I'm sure leaving a lot out, it still manages to tell you much more about the deep political and economic issues facing the city than this book does.)
As an example, the book goes into some depth on the people behind two politically/racially-motivated killing sprees of the 70s. In passing, the book mentions that SF had mostly been spared the urban riots that had riven a lot of the rest of the country. Also in passing, while hearing stories about music and the Fillmore, you learn that the Western Addition, where most of the city's African-American population lived, was basically destroyed by urban renewal. If you want to read a novel of personalities, the book's approach to these killing sprees is fine. If you actually want to learn about San Francisco, the priorities are all wrong. The people involved are pretty now all dead or in jail - knowing about them is titillating but tells you nothing about the current city. The long-term dynamics (history, economics, etc.) that he book tells you nothing about are still very much with us, and the book tells you basically nothing about them.
I'd still really love to find a good history of the Summer of Love and the 80s in the city, but this is not it. (For the 70s, Randy Shilts' Milk biography is really pretty great - despite being focused on Milk, and I'm sure leaving a lot out, it still manages to tell you much more about the deep political and economic issues facing the city than this book does.)
kevinsmokler's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
chadstep's review against another edition
5.0
At first pithy, it weaves a complex story of major events in SF history and the players that filled the city's most important playmakers of the day, for good and bad. Amazing detail and sublime highlights of what is behind the City of St. Francis.
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review against another edition
5.0
This is exactly the type of non-fiction that I love best: illuminating and fast-paced. The book was especially useful in connecting the dots between events that I already knew about, and giving context for why certain people and events developed as they did. Highly recommend.
jfbfsf's review against another edition
4.0
Living in SF, I find the history of it particularly interesting. The writing is a little flowery and perhaps overly dramatic, given to sweeping, grand statements... but while I recognized it, it didn't bother me. Most of what he was writing about is pretty dramatic, so maybe it just blended into the narrative. I find that overly dramatic prose makes a non fiction book feel long on emotion and short on fact... but this book didn't feel like it was supposed to be a comprehensive detailed summary of SF through the decades. It tells the story it wants to tell - which I found very readable. I also learned new to me details about some fairly recent SF history, another reason I enjoyed the book.
anniew415's review against another edition
5.0
A really engaging account of San Francisco between the years of 1967 and 1982. As a native San Franciscan, and one who came on the scene only toward the end of this timeframe, I have often heard & felt the repercussions of these tumultuous years in our city's history. David Talbot is very forthright in his appraisals of everyone - there's no special treatment for any of the colorful characters of San Francisco. I have already recommended this book to many friends and other natives...very fun and fast-moving, AND I learned quite a bit. I love that.
jerrica's review against another edition
5.0
I first found mention of this on a book recommendation thread online, but it was also mentioned in Anna Wiener's memoir Uncanny Valley as something all of the San Francisco newcomers were reading. :)
It's non-fiction but the twists and turns will have you gasping out loud like a thriller. I learned so much about the city I'm moving to!
It's non-fiction but the twists and turns will have you gasping out loud like a thriller. I learned so much about the city I'm moving to!