The Barbary Coast
An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld
by Herbert Asbury
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Should I read this?
appears in About San Francisco, History, and Nonfiction.
The history of the Barbary Coast properly begins with the gold rush to California in 1849. If the precious yellow metal hadn't been discovered . . . the development of San Francisco's underworld in all likelihood would have been indistinguishable from that of any other large American city. Instead, owing almost entirely to the influx of goldseeker...
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appears in About San Francisco, History, and Nonfiction.
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“Disrupted is a first-person, often scathing memoir of a journalist thrown into Silicon Valley startup culture. it reads as brisk and anecdote-driven: a steady stream of funny, enraged scenes that map the social rituals of venture-backed companies. Its useful part is its voice — candid, sarcastic, and detail-rich about office absurdities — which makes the culture feel tangible. The main limitation is repetition: a long string of similar incidents and punchlines can flatten into sustained snark and leave readers who want structural analysis wanting.”
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