Synopses & Reviews
The critically acclaimed, San Francisco Chronicle bestseller—a gripping story of the strife and tragedy that led to San Francisco’s ultimate rebirth and triumph.San Francisco was the cradle of the 1960s, but also its coffin, giving rise to the Zebra and Zodiac killers, Jonestown, the assassination of Harvey Milk, and the AIDS epidemic. And yet San Francisco not only rose from the wreckage of the 1970s, but developed a live-and-let-live tolerance that influenced the entire country.
David Talbot, founder of the San Francisco-based web magazine Salon, is uniquely poised to tell his iconic city’s story in all its terrible glory. Season of the Witch comes to life with jaw-dropping scenes and a cast of characters that includes the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, Charles Manson, Patty Hearst, the Cockettes, the Hells Angels, Harvey Milk, and the mercurial 49ers coach Bill Walsh. It was with the help of the 49ers, a grab bag team of misfits who mirrored the city itself, that San Francisco gradually reclaimed its spirit.
As Talbot writes, “San Francisco values did not come into the world with flowers in their hair—they were born howling, in blood and strife.” This is the wild story of the people and events that shaped the city that continues to shape the nation.
Review
"A fresh, fun, vigorous look at a strange American city David Talbot knows well and loves with irony." —Oliver Stone
Review
and#8220;A gritty corrective to our rosy memoriesand#8230;enthralling, news-driven history...smart and briskly paced tale... I found it hard to put down andlt;Iandgt;Season of the Witchandlt;/Iandgt;." and#8212;andlt;Iandgt;San Francisco Chronicleandlt;/Iandgt;
Review
“[A] sprawling, ambitious history… Talbot’s energetic, highly entertaining storytelling conveys the exhilaration of ’60s counterculture as well as the gathering ugliness that would mark the city in the ’70s.” —Boston Globe
Review
and#8220;Exhaustive research yields penetrating character studiesand#8230;Talbot incisively relates the atmosphere of service in the Haightand#8230;In a surprising ending, Talbot convincingly suggests that imperfect new mayor Dianne Feinstein resurrected the cityand#8217;s heart as it rallied around the 49ers. In exhilarating fashion, Talbot clears the rainbow mist and brings San Francisco into sharp focus.and#8221; and#8212; andlt;Iandgt;Publishers Weeklyandlt;/Iandgt; (starred review)
Review
andlt;xmlandgt; andlt;/xmlandgt;and#8220;An ambitious, labor-of-love illumination of a cityand#8217;s soul, celebrating the uniqueness of San Francisco without minimizing the price paid for the cityand#8217;s free-spiritednessand#8230; the author encompasses the cityand#8217;s essenceand#8230; Talbot loves his city deeply and knows it well, making the pieces of the puzzle fit together, letting the reader understandand#8230;Talbot takes the reader much deeper than clichand#233;, exploring a San Francisco that tourists never discover.and#8221; and#8212;andlt;Iandgt;Kirkus Reviews, andlt;/Iandgt;starred reviewandlt;Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;/Iandgt;
Review
"Talbot's new book delves to impressive depths in tracing the city's transformation from parochial backwater to countercultural beacon… the Salon founder deftly sketches portraits of hippies, politicos, and rights activists who forged our 'San Francisco values' and in the process rescues some old icons from obscurity… a compulsively entertaining page-turner… A useful lesson for our Occupied times: Change is hard, but it's possible." —San Francisco Magazine
Review
“[A] sprawling, lurid, dishy, and electric history… Talbot musters magnificent details from new interviews and old news reports. … Talbot's chapter on the Zebra killings is genuinely harrowing, as are his accounts of Altamont, the SLA, and miscellaneous madness in a Haight flooded with junk-addicted veterans… always finding fresh anecdotes to savor even in familiar stories… this wild, thrilling, deeply reported book is a choice guide to all of those San Franciscos — cities nobody yet has managed to reconcile in a coherent whole, so kudos to Talbot for matching subject to form.” —San Francisco Weekly
Review
“As a phenomenally intuitive journalist, editor, and culture critic, David Talbot has not only channeled the Zeitgeist but helped make it.”—Camille Paglia, best-selling author and culture critic
Review
“David Talbot is a great story-teller. He writes like an angel and has a reporter’s passion for the truth. Describing people I knew, I can say that Talbot has perfect pitch, but he has also introduced me to others, as thrilling as sin. He got it all just right and gets closer to describing the lusty, languorous, glamorous, and sometimes lethal Saint named Francisco than anyone I know. The book overflows with gifts. I’m in awe of it.” —Peter Coyote, author of
Sleeping Where I Fall
Review
"In this wonderful book, David Talbot tells the stories deep in San Francisco’s loric landscape, from its cultural greatness to the slides into madness. Talbot explores its volcanic originality with awe and respect. An unforgettable history." —Tom Hayden, author of The Long Sixties
Review
“Season of the Witch is an enthralling — and harrowing — account of how the 1967 Summer of Love gave way to 20 or so winters of discontent. An undercurrent of rock music runs through the book…Some of the artists, such as the Dead and the Jefferson Airplane, still get airplay. Others enjoyed fleeting fame. Season of the Witch, however, is good enough to last." —Washington Post
Review
"Talbot's book is a gritty, poetic Valentine to the city by the bay as it emerged as a fantasia of ethnic, cultural, sexual, intellectual and social liberation. Talbot doesn't back off from having literary flowers in his hair recounting some of the halcyon days of the summer of love, but he also chronicles the city's many problems with a heavy dose of hardboiled reporter noir. " —Huffington Post
Review
"Fascinating...[the] absorbing, breakneck story of how the City by the Bay fought off its demons in the 1970s and '80s and emerged with enlightened values intact." —Portland Oregonian
Review
"Excellent...Talbot's account of the rise of Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple religious movement is absolutely masterful, allowing the reader to see just how and why this unstable preacher achieved such prominence. Talbot not only gives us a nuanced account of the city that he clearly loves, but he also gives us a cultural history of late-20th-century America."—Milwaukee Shepard-Express
Review
and#8220;Talbot presents gripping accounts of both crime sprees and football showdowns. Even people who were there might take away something new, and for others, the book offers a comprehensive introduction to the era.and#8221;andlt;Iandgt; and#8212;Booklistandlt;/Iandgt;
Synopsis
The critically acclaimed, San Francisco Chronicle bestseller--a gripping story of the strife and tragedy that led to San Francisco's ultimate rebirth and triumph.
Salon founder David Talbot chronicles the cultural history of San Francisco and from the late 1960s to the early 1980s when figures such as Harvey Milk, Janis Joplin, Jim Jones, and Bill Walsh helped usher from backwater city to thriving metropolis.
Synopsis
andlt;Bandgt;Iandlt;/Bandgt;n a kaleidoscopic narrative, andlt;Iandgt;New York Times andlt;/Iandgt;bestselling author David Talbot tells the gripping story of San Francisco in the turbulent years between 1967 and 1982and#8212;and of the extraordinary men and women who led to the cityand#8217;s ultimate rebirth and triumph. andlt;Iandgt;Season of the Witch andlt;/Iandgt;is the first book to fully capture the dark magic of San Francisco in this breathtaking period, when the city radically changed itselfand#8212;and then revolutionized the world.
Synopsis
The critically acclaimed, andlt;iandgt;San Francisco Chronicleandlt;/iandgt; bestsellerand#8212;a gripping story of the strife and tragedy that led to San Franciscoand#8217;s ultimate rebirth and triumph.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;iandgt;Salon andlt;/iandgt;founder David Talbot chronicles the cultural history of San Francisco and from the late 1960s to the early 1980s when figures such as Harvey Milk, Janis Joplin, Jim Jones, and Bill Walsh helped usher from backwater city to thriving metropolis.
About the Author
andlt;Bandgt;David Talbotandlt;/Bandgt;, author of the andlt;iandgt;New York Timesandlt;/iandgt; bestseller andlt;iandgt;Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Yearsandlt;/iandgt;, is the founder and CEO of andlt;iandgt;Salonandlt;/iandgt;. He lives in San Francisco.