Great reading that provides a sense of the city, from the Traveler online Ultimate Travel Library.
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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers (2000)
Tender, witty memoir of a young man raising his adolescent brother while exploring San Francisco's Gen-X culture during the '90s.
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906, by Simon Winchester (2005)
Historical nonfiction by best-selling storyteller and scholar; studies San Francisco's 1906 natural disaster and its aftershocks through time, space, and society.
Daughter of Fortune, by Isabel Allende (1999)
Multicultural, historical novel in which an adventurous heroine travels from Chile to gold rush-era San Francisco to search for her lost lover, but finds herself instead.
Baghdad by the Bay, by Herb Caen (1949)
Collection of essays by Pulitzer Prize-winning San Francisco newspaper columnist; profiles the city, its people, and its landmarks as they were in the 1940s.
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan (1989)
Multigenerational novel set in San Francisco's Chinatown and in China; details the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, the past and present, and Chinese and American cultures.
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett (1929)
Hard-boiled detective fiction; follows San Francisco private-eye Sam Spade as he investigates his partner's murder, dodges shady characters, and uncovers jewel-encrusted treasure.
McTeague, by Frank Norris (1899)
Inspired by a sensational 1893 murder case, this naturalist novel portrays a dark, violent San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century.
On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (1957)
Autobiographical novel definitive of San Francisco's Beat movement; free, unstructured prose describes the journey of two men as they crisscross the American continent, inherently searching for religious truth and profound values.
Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin (1978)
First in a series of six novels praised for their compassion and humor; set in San Francisco in the 1970s, the story reveals the lives of a young woman, her gay friend, and their transsexual landlord.
