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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Incredibly unique, and definitely a must-have if you love maps and history. I love it more because I bought it at City Lights, arguably the most famous bookstore in San Francisco, if not the west coast entirely. I'm definitely going to get the other two available, New York and New Orleans, and hoping Solnit eventually writes more (Boston and Chicago would be amazing). I would love to see this unusual map format done for international cities, like Paris, Edinburgh, Prague, Istanbul, etc.
I really appreciated the thoughtfulness behind the maps in the atlas, particularly those detailing the mission district, the indigenous past, and women's leadership roles in the Bay's environmental movements.
I love Solnit's writing, and the way she muses on the individual maps, updating and outdated, that live layered in every person. I was glad to see her contribute so many essays to this atlas of hers, compared to New Orleans. Perhaps because of that, I felt the New Orleans atlas offered more diverse perspectives and ideas.
Still, I loved this, and would recommend it to anyone with ties to the Bay.
I love Solnit's writing, and the way she muses on the individual maps, updating and outdated, that live layered in every person. I was glad to see her contribute so many essays to this atlas of hers, compared to New Orleans. Perhaps because of that, I felt the New Orleans atlas offered more diverse perspectives and ideas.
Still, I loved this, and would recommend it to anyone with ties to the Bay.
One of the best books I've read in a while, 6 stars if I could
I don't think I would have known about this if Annie Yu hadn't made a blog post about the maps project.
The maps and essays in this book provide the most unique look at San Francisco I've seen in awhile. I was drawn to certain maps and essays more than others, particularly those that juxtapose two ideas not normally displayed together on one map such as culinary treasures and toxic waste sites. The map of "hidden treasures" has inspired new ideas for exploring the city - and I want to make my own version of the map! The layout of the maps caused occasional frustration due to hard-to-read text near the binding, but overall I highly recommend this book.
Quirky and fun and fabulous. I really like the juxtaposition at the heart of some of these maps and the overall layering of ideas and concepts on the streets of my new city. I'd love to see a book like this about Detroit.
A little preachy, but also amazing and unique and so brilliantly creative. A collection of maps about different facets of SF/Bay Area life and history, with accompanying (very short) eloquent essays about each. I learned a ton about the city I've called home for 6 years; this makes me much more aware of how I interact with my community and the people & places around me.
Favorites include:
- Monarchs and Queens: Butterfly Habitats and Queer Public Spaces
- Poison/Palate: The Bay Area in Your Body (noted gourmet restaurants and agricultural productions, plus 'poison' and EPA Superfund sites)
- Shipyards and Sounds: The Black Bay Area since World War II
- Right Wing of the Dove: The Bay Area s Conservative/Military Brain Trust
- The Mission: North of Home, South of Safe
Favorites include:
- Monarchs and Queens: Butterfly Habitats and Queer Public Spaces
- Poison/Palate: The Bay Area in Your Body (noted gourmet restaurants and agricultural productions, plus 'poison' and EPA Superfund sites)
- Shipyards and Sounds: The Black Bay Area since World War II
- Right Wing of the Dove: The Bay Area s Conservative/Military Brain Trust
- The Mission: North of Home, South of Safe
4 stars for presentation, 3.5 for enjoyment. What a fascinating project! The maps & essays in this collection brought to life for me a city and an area with which I have only the barest of familiarity. As an outsider, I didn't feel the same connection to the material that a true San Francisco native would probably feel, but I certainly learned a bit about the history of the area and its inhabitants. Each map is unique but they all help paint a colorful and informative picture of a particular place with its myriad peoples, principals, dreams, triumphs and disasters. I wish someone would undertake a similar project for Portland.
I love the conceit of this book in theory. However, due to the fact that the book needed lots of space for the maps, the essays seem interminable. They are also uneven, some compelling and others just blah. My recommendation would be to read one essay, go read something else, then come back to it.