Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am probably in a small minority of people who knew much of this story before I read it. I am 71 years old and my mother, her parents and many of their friends survived the horrible 1906 earthquake and fires. Growing up, I heard countless stories about what happened. Everyone who survived was angry that the death toll was so low, 500 people, when it was many times that number. My grandmother collected newspaper articles that disputed the death toll and many other lies that city officials told. My grandparents told of people being driven out of their homes at bayonet point when the fire was still a long way away and told they could take nothing of their possessions with them. Every survivor told tales of the military and national guard breaking into bars and liquor stores, then shooting anyone they thought might be looting. What surprised and delighted me about this book was not just the fact that the writer corrected the falsehoods, but that he took the time to tell us what life was like in one of the most beautiful and colorful cities America has ever seen. This was like a journey through my family history. He told how everyone, even the poorest, dressed well whenever they were in public. I could hear the cable cars clanging up and down the hills, the horses hooves clomping on the streets, see into the alleys of Chinatown where they were still selling poor little girls like cattle. I loved his descriptions of the mansions on Nob Hill and the dregs of the Barbary Coast, and my grandmother, were she still alive, would have relished the Caruso sections, as she had tickets to attend one of the perfromances, one that she saved up for for weeks but missed because the opera house was burned down. I think anyone would love this book, whether or not they have ever been to San Francisco. I have asked myself for many years why somone has not told this story. I am from the generation that was rasied on books, not television. This is one I am going to treasure. I heard the author speak and saw a documentary film he presented at a library last week. He is as passionate and knowledgeable about the subject in person. The images of the city and the disaster brought back a flood of emotions, as did the book. I just thought it was all wonderful.
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