Book Review: Cool Gray City of Love

Few cities have such a place in the American imagination as San Francisco, and few writers know San Francisco as well as long-time resident and journalist Gary Kamiya. In Cool Gray City of Love, Kamiya takes us on a walk around his favorite town, going chapter-by-chapter through various neighborhoods and sites, as well as through the city's cultural, political, and even geological history. He takes us through the Presidio, with its history of somewhat bungled conquest; through the wild artificiality of Golden Gate Park, a garden claimed from sand dunes; through Japantown, with its undercurrent of both racial oppression and interracial cooperation; through the Tenderloin, a slum that continues to occupy prime real estate in one of the most expensive cities in the world because - as Kamiya says - the city wants it to. Reading these fascinating, funny, and often bittersweet stories does more than give you a local expert's view of San Francisco. It shows you what it means to love a place deeply, in all its tragedy and beauty. - Michelle (Sunset)