Conservatives Are from Mars, Liberals Are from San Francisco: 101 Reasons I'm Happy I Left the Left Review

Conservatives Are from Mars, Liberals Are from San Francisco: 101 Reasons I'm Happy I Left the Left
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I absolutely loved this book. Of course, if you're a liberal you will not find it funny. Mr. Prulutsky really hits the nail on the head on so many isues. I found myself laughing at his commentaries of current issues and also scared because they're so true. So, if you are a liberal and easily offended, don't buy it. Want to know what's really going on ? Read it.

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"For years," Burt Prelutsky says, "the ranks of the Right were so bereft of amusing people they had to point to William F. Buckley Jr. as their token funnyman. Finally, thank God, P. J. O'Rourke came along. Now he was really funny. I mean, on purpose."So begins the man who invented political incorrectness. In this delightful social commentary and on just about everything the Left does that offends him, he brings a biting wit.
On politicians: "If you have a politician for a friend, you don't need an enemy."

On lawyers: "How is it than in a society in which everything from toys to toasters comes with dire warnings attached, lawyers don't?"

On working people: "While liberals sing folk songs celebrating the wonderful folk who build the bridges, till the soil, and make the world run, they just don't want them to vote."
In 101 short, pithy chapters Prelutsky applies his wit and wisdom to the big issues of the day. To quote him: "So rightwingers, dig in and enjoy. Liberals, dig in and wise up."

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FreeK Camp (awards: NY, Paris, San Francisco, New England, London, & Hollywood Book Festival Awards; 2 Mom's Choice gold, Moonbeam Award, 2010 & 2011 ... Book of Year, Next Generation Indie finalist) Review

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I Found My Heart in San Francisco Review

I Found My Heart in San Francisco
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I suppose all insatiable readers have a "desert island book list" - those books you love so much that you'd choose them as your eternal reading material for the time you're stranded on that island. Well, I've just added "I Found My Heart in San Francisco" to my list. I honestly couldn't put it down!
Ms. Meagher brings her characters to astonishing life. We learn about Jamie Evans and Ryan O'Flaherty, two women whose lives cross in a sociology class about the lesbian experience. Ryan is an out, gorgeous lesbian, taking the class for educational and social reasons. Jamie, engaged to Jack, the most promising young law student at Stanford, chooses the class for credits. But there are feelings between the two as soon as they meet, and the author develops them so believably, so sweetly and so sexily, I was caught up in this story from page one.
This novel is a simply wonderful voyage of self-discovery and of what it means to truly commit to love. Don't miss it.

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Despite the questions of her roommates and the objections of her fiancé, Jamie Evans persists in enrolling in a college course that seems an odd choice for a young woman of her background. What no one can know is that the course, The Psychology of the Lesbian Experience, will propel Jamie onto a journey of self-awareness and realization.For the required fieldwork, Jamie is paired with the darkly beautiful Ryan O'Flaherty—a boldly "out" and sexually adventurous lesbian. This somewhat unlikely pair slowly, and sometimes painfully become aware that what they feel for each other is more than just friendship.The temptation to live life on her own terms is great, but so are the costs, as Jamie struggles to break out of her establishment-fashioned, pre-ordained mold. If she can summon the courage, however, she might find out that love, and life, have so much more to offer than she had ever dreamed.

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Bury My Bones in America: The Saga of a Chinese Family in California, 1852-1996--From San Francisco to the Sierra Gold Mines Review

Bury My Bones in America: The Saga of a Chinese Family in California, 1852-1996--From San Francisco to the Sierra Gold Mines
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If you enjoy historical books about Asian American or California history, this is a "must read." Lani Ah Tye Farkas tells the fascinating true story of her great grandfather, who arrived in California in the early 1850s and overcame racial oppression and other challenges to successfully settle in America. She then traces the fortunes of his progeny, and tells their stories through two generations. The resulting book accurately portrays the many struggles and challenges that early Chinese immigrants faced in California in the last century and a half. The book features wonderful family photographs, some tragic stories, and is fully footnoted.

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Shannon: Lost and Found San Francisco, 1880 (Girlhood Journeys, Book Two) Review

Shannon: Lost and Found San Francisco, 1880 (Girlhood Journeys, Book Two)
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The book I read Lost and Found was an o.k. book. It was a little kiddish, slow and had not much action. Other than that it was a pretty good book.

the best part of the book is when the girl Shannon takes her monkey named "kitty" with her to different places. The worst part its just a little slow for me. I would definitely recommend the book for someone a little younger. I really like how when I read it and it did not fill like it was fake. It felt really like a true story.
This books author did a really good job describing the setting andthe theme. She went into a lot of debth on the setting like the big, old, magnificent, green trees. thats only about the trees it got better. The theme I thought was really good. The theme was "Treat Others The Way You Would Want To Be Treated". Thats my favorite theme. I thought the author did really good job.

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When Shannon and her friends conduct a book drive in their San Francisco neighborhood in 1880 to benefit the new library, they must solve a mystery quickly.

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Quick Escapes from San Francisco: 30 Weekend Trips from the Bay Area (Quick Escapes San Francisco) Review

Quick Escapes from San Francisco: 30 Weekend Trips from the Bay Area (Quick Escapes San Francisco)
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My beloved copy of this book is now tattered with use and full of sticky notes and hi-lighter marks.
I really enjoy taking short trips around the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area instead of getting on a plane or driving long distances. There is so much to do around here, why go anywhere else?
My husband and I trade off years for who gets to plan our wedding anniversary trip. I have planned three great anniversaries using this book. (Lower Napa Valley, Sonoma Coastline, and Old Sacramento.) All I had to do was photocopy the "Quick Escape" I wanted to take from the book, write a few notes in the margins and I was ready to go. All the places to stay, places to eat and things to do were already outlined for me. The author even notes quaint little towns or scenic vistas along the way that we might have missed otherwise.
Other travel guides give you a categorized list of activities, restaurants, hotels etc. but you still have to figure out how to put it all together for a vacation. With this book, I could quickly and easily plan a romantic and fun vacation with very little imagination or research required. And I get to take all the credit! :-)
If you live in the San Francisco area and want a great guide for weekend trips, this book will become your best friend.

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Hitched: Wedding Stories from San Francisco City Hall Review

Hitched: Wedding Stories from San Francisco City Hall
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Cheryl Dumesnil has done a magnificent job of collecting stories from couples that were legally married at City Hall in San Francisco during the "Winter of Love" in Feb-March 2004. The book covers stories of people ranging from those who were not married but participated (one has young as 18 years) to couples married for over half of a century. There are mixed-racial couples, couples coping with disabilities, young activists, a man who lost his partner to death but still helped all of those at City Hall to marry, couples nearly married who were heartbreakingly turned away on the steps of City Hall, couples together a few years, and couples together for over 50 years. Some couples jumped at the chance to marry -- others struggled with timing, and with the decision if official marriage would really cement an already strong relationship. The introduction by Rosie O'Donnell taught me that straight couples aren't forced to testify against each other in court, but gay couples are. I was continually reminded of all of the rights that are currently not afforded to committed, tax paying, loving couples of the same gender, and their children, in this country of "freedom." I laughed, I cried, I ached for the people in the book -- and for myself -- to be given chances for true equality. This book truly captured the feelings of those at City Hall (I know, I was there). The outpouring of love and volunteerism from straight and gay alike is something I, and others involved, will never forget. If you want to know more about the lives of some of the people involved in the "Winter of Love", this is a must-read.

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The COPPER-HANDLES AFFAIR: The Great San Francisco Earthquake, Fire and Bank Heist Review

The COPPER-HANDLES AFFAIR: The Great San Francisco Earthquake, Fire and Bank Heist
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A great fast paced read. John's ability to mix historic facts with ficticious adventure makes this a book hard to put down. His characters are fully developed and believable. I liked Copper's narrative being written in the vernacular. It set a certain tone for his character. John's use of the literary style of switching back and forth from Copper's escape to Handles pursuit kept the adventure moving along at a good pace. Many of the "switches" ended in a cliffhanger that compelled the reader to move on. Besides being a good read, this book takes you on a geographical and historical tour of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

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THE COPPER-HANDLES AFFAIR: The Great San Francisco Earthquake, Fire and Bank Heist, begins with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and a simple opportunistic bank robbery, plunging John Law Copper, accidental thief, and Frederick W. Handles, the pursuing policeman, into the greater game of big money power politics and civic corruption on the Ragtime U. S. Pacific Coast.The chase takes them through the vanished garden world of northern California to the dangerous shanghai town of Portland, Oregon.Resonates with common human values that time and evolution have not yet ground out of us.Includes 48 b&w line drawings and two maps.

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Inside Out San Francisco: Popout Map (Insideout City Guides) Review

Inside Out San Francisco: Popout Map (Insideout City Guides)
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A most unique and highly useable map and guide.
Special Edition -- double pop out maps (San Francisco and Golden Gate Park, Downtown San Francisco)
San Francisco Insider guide 64 pages richly illustrated
Working compass (flips up from spine to help navigate)
Handy writing pen (slides out of spine)

Durable covers and all of this in a pocket size. Why struggle with folding and unfolding a large map.
The only drawback that I could see might be the small print. However, the compact design allows you to get a good idea of where landmarks are located and their proximity to each other. Even though the maps are compact, they provide a lot of detail and contain all of the most popular landmarks and destinations.

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Great Chefs of San Francisco Review

Great Chefs of San Francisco
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The great chef series of TV shows preceeded todays cooking shows. I don't even know if they are available on DVD though you still may be able to find some VCR copies. The cookbooks are an accompaniment to the videos and as such, sometimes the proportions, times, and directions are a bit off. It is in this regard that you have to sort of read between the lines and think your way through creating the recipes. That said, if you keep that in mind you can create some great meals using this book.
A few of my favorites from the book are the Veal Adriana, Chicken with Pink and Green Peppercorns, and Bombay Madness. When I had my original copy of the book in the early '80's the Veal Adriana receipe of Adriana Giramonti got me started with mustard sauces which I have through the years continued to use. When I recently got another copy (mine gone via divorce years ago) I fixed the Bombay Madness (mad in that Indians don't eat beef) and the steamed filet mignons were wonderful. The chicken dish is a Rene Verdon dish which was more work, has taken a few times to make and get better at it too will be something I'll do more regularly.
Bottom line is, if you stumble across this book (as you won't find it new) you can pick it up at a low price and it is very worthwhile. I'd love to find out if there are dvd's available as I would like to find them.

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From the French room of the Four Seasons Clift Hotel in San Francisco to Giramonti Restaurant in Mill Valley, thirteen of the Bay area's finest chefs will guide readers through 64 mouth-watering dishes.

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San Francisco's Noe Valley (Images of America) Review

San Francisco's Noe Valley (Images of America)
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Very nice reading and a lot of pictures of Noe Valley in the early years. Would recommend this book for anyone wanting to see and read about the early years of San Francisco, CA.

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Deco by the Bay: 2Art Deco Architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area Review

Deco by the Bay: 2Art Deco Architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area
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This is my first Art Deco architecture book and I found it to be a perfect introduction to this design movement. The book has multiple color photos on almost every page and is organized nicely. A few of the photos are fuzzy, but this did not detract from my enjoyment. In fact it inspired me (as a novice) to go out, look up, and photograph the architecture around me. And I find myself looking at buildings that I admired prior to reading the book in a new light.
Several local walks are listed in the second half of the book (along with photos to enjoy if you can't make it yourself) as well as a list of Art Deco societies around the country (some sponsor walks and events).

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With lavish color plates and itineraries and maps for nine tours of the Bay Area, this beautiful book is a stunning and authoritative guide to Deco beauty in San Francisco. 150 color plates.

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Eat This, San Francisco: Dives, Joints, All-Night Cafes, and Other Cheap Eats in the Bay Area Review

Eat This, San Francisco: Dives, Joints, All-Night Cafes, and Other Cheap Eats in the Bay Area
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I work with a chap who keeps a box of gourmet jelly beans by his desk.
Each day he calls me into his office and opens the box.
"What shall we have today?" he says.
We each pluck one -- just one -- of the mocha or popcorn or blueberry flavored jelly beans. We let it rest on our tongue. We savor it.
Then he places the cover back on the jellybean box and we go back to work.
Dan Leone's book serves the same purpose to me. In my lavatory, where I keep "Eat This" and where the author suggests it be kept, I am ensured a daily literary richness as I read one Leone review per day.
Am I tempted to read more? You betcher boots. But I won't, because I will savor each lovely tasty and funny review without it clashing another.
Not only that, I just want to stretch it out. It is not a book I want to end.
In short: I've read lots of food books and restaurant guides. I don't live in SF, but I was intrigued by this book, a referral, and read it for its literary value.
It's a gas.

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The Best Waterfront Dining: From San Francisco to Monterey Review

The Best Waterfront Dining: From San Francisco to Monterey
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I love to eat at new places, and this is a good guide for finding them in NorCal

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Frommer's Napa and Sonoma Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Pocket) Review

Frommer's Napa and Sonoma Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Pocket)
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More than just a regional guide, this concise book is VERY well researched and very well written with clarity and obvious firsthand knowledge. The author has led us to many fun and memorable experiences in the wine country. Both her enthusiasm and direction to some of the more unique destinations and activities in this region have made for unforgettable moments for 2 different groups of French visitors. Pay attention to the tips and notes; every time the advice is right on. Extremely helpful and user-friendly, we would definitely trust any recommendations in this book when planning an excursion or making a reservation in Napa or Sonoma.

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Sonoma Day by Day features 30 smart itinerary ideas for your trip, all with gorgeous color photos and maps.
We've included an itinerary to meet almost every need, from "Wine Country for Romance" to "Wine Country on a Budget" to even "Wine Country for Nondrinkers," plus Napa & Sonoma itineraries in 1, 2, or 3 days. You'll find lists of the best dining, accommodations, and wineries, details on the area's "most charming towns," outdoor hiking itineraries -- plus a chapter devoted to San Francisco itineraries.
Our author is a California native to the core; she was educated at Stanford and UCLA, and was associate editor at the Los Angeles Times. She's done all the nitty-gritty updates needed for this second edition, as well as the not-as-difficult frequent tastings of these wines on site.
Frommer's Napa & Sonoma Day by Day also includes a color fold-out map.


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Visions of Frisco: An Imaginative Depiction of San Francisco during the Gold Rush & The Barbary Coast Era Review

Visions of Frisco: An Imaginative Depiction of San Francisco during the Gold Rush and The Barbary Coast Era
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Using nineteenth century engravings and an imagination of rich imagery, Wilfried Satty created a beautiful dream of San Francisco. Best known for his stunningly rich rock posters created during the San Francisco heyday of Psychedelia, Satty worked on this project until his untimely death in 1982.
"Visions of Frisco" is a collage both pictorial and literal. Visual collage both terrestrial and cosmic is combined with literary eyewitness accounts of early San Francisco. A fantastic historical dream of a beautiful City.
- Conor Fennessy

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Wilfried Podriech (1939-1982), aka Satty, emerged as an artist during San Francisco s psychedelic art movement of the late 1960s. He worked in the tradition of collage, at first with materials cut from contemporary magazines. He was soon attracted to the graphic qualities of the black and white illustrations found in books and magazines of the 19th Century, a graphic source used by the Surrealist Max Ernst in the 1920s. From these Satty cut images and carefully, seamlessly composed them into surreal and visionary works of art.Satty began work on a series of San Francisco collages in 1975. From reading historical accounts of the early city, he realized that most of the existing pictorial record, photos and paintings didn t match the colorful literary descriptions of that chaotic era. He decided to graphically re-create the era, to evoke the visual and emotional experiences of the early city in combination with relevant eyewitness accounts. He researched the writings of early immigrants, later residents, and many other writers who visited the famous spectacle of the developing city. Satty created collages until his death in early 1982. As an interested historian, and a friend for ten years, Walter Medeiros had often been closely involved with him, and especially during the last year of his life. Satty discussed the project with him and took pleasure in showing him work in progress. Satty s will left the project to Medeiros.Although there was a quantity of research notes, and indications of texts under consideration, none were assigned to specific collages. Nor had a workable book format been developed. The only prepared text was in the form of typed captions applied to many of the artworks.As editor-collaborator, Medeiros closely examined the large body of diverse collages and selected those which might be arranged into a suitable narrative form. Through a review of Satty s notes and books, supplementary research, and consideration of the content of the artworks, a generally chronological format was eventually developed, based on historical events and the prominent themes and topics found within the body of the selected collages.As to selection of texts, most excerpts are taken from first-hand accounts; from journals, letters and books of people who participated in or otherwise closely observed the historical events and social conditions of the era. Many texts have been edited for brevity or for relevance to the artworks. Some texts match the illustrations quite closely; for other texts the relationship may be indirect. A developed draft of the book was completed by 1983. In 1984 an exhibition of this material, entitled An Imaginary History of San Francisco, was presented at the California Historical Society, in San Francisco. While this project sprang from Satty s personal experience, it was also related to his serious interest in social and political trends of American culture, especially the impact of mass media. He was both participant and close observer of the energetic, assertive, often transgressive counterculture of the 1960s, which struck him as analogous to the chaotic, culturally formative era of the Gold Rush. Visions of Frisco an impressionistic history. Such is the nature of the art works, and that imaginative, associative mode rather than a linear, strictly descriptive one has informed the creation of this book. Satty s art is a tour de force of historical re-creation. The city he loved becomes vividly animated, peopled with faces, costumes, attitudes and activities that chronicle half a century.

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Picturing Modernity: Highlights from the Photography Collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Review

Picturing Modernity: Highlights from the Photography Collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
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This paperback has 14 pages of text and 79 plates, the latter of which are "only a sampling of the approximately ten thousand photographs" in the SFMOMA collection. The photographers include Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Eugène Atget, Mathew Brady, Brassaï, Julia Margaret Cameron, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Imogen Cunningham, Roy DeCarava, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Ralph Gibson, Lewis Hine, André Kertész, William Klein, Dorothea Lange, Ralph Meatyard, Lisette Model, László Moholy-Nagy, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, Irving Penn, Man Ray, Jacob Riis, Alexander Rodchenko, August Sander, Cindy Sherman, Aaron Siskind, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Josef Sudek, William Henry Fox Talbot, Edward Weston, and Garry Winogrand.
The photos are nicely reproduced, better than in many exhibition catalogs. A handful of the plates are in color, and the rest are duotone black & white. The nationality, birth date, and death date of each photographer are given, which is helpful. I would have liked to see more text for each work (besides the title, date, medium, and dimensions), since the 14 pages of text specifically mention only one-third of the plates. It would also have been nice for the photos to be reproduced in sizes "more or less proportionate to those of the prints" as in "Ansel Adams at 100" of 2001. Instead, some small prints in reality are large in the book, and vice versa. Finally, the photos were made from 1843 to 1994, but the order of the photos in the book is 1850, 1848, 1843, 1854, 1850, ... , 1994, 1975, 1990, 1983, 1976, 1984, 1989, 1987, 1991, 1984, 1979, and 1991-1992. I did not see a strong reason to vary from a strict chronological order, although it was interesting that some photos facing each other were visually related (e.g., "strong background light," "shadow over part of photo") or thematically related (e.g., "children playing," "men with hats").
Overall, the book provides a good exploration of the history of photography. Buy this from Amazon.com!

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The SF MoMA was one of the first museums in the world to present photography as a fine art. More importantly, however, the museum recognized photography as one of the most vital and expressive art forms of the modern period.This superb collection of photographs features works from over 70 photographers including: Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus, Eugene Atget, Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand.

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