Whoever after due and proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word “Frisco,” which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a High Misdemeanor, and shall pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of twenty-five dollars. - Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, 1872
While the self-proclaimed Norton I, a.k.a. Joshua A. Norton (1819-1880), may have contributed more to San Francisco’s reputation for eccentricity than to its literary allure, the latter does owe a thing or two to the former.
The Beat Generation, perhaps the best-known bunch of literati to be associated with Frisc… I mean, San Francisco(*), were nothing if not eccentric – their liberal attitude towards sex, drugs and jazz helped gear-shift American culture from the conformist Fifties into the anything goes Sixties.
The works and influence of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti et alii transformed San Francisco into one of the focal points of the countercultural movement that swept the western world in the Sixties and Seventies. But the literary endowment of the city transcends that flowers-in-your-hair phase, as shown by this map.
Based on a similar map of St Petersburg by Vera Evstafieva and Andrew Biliter (**), this one places city-relevant quotes on a San Francisco map, where possible on the district the quote relates to. San Francisco Bay, cable cars, the Mission, the Tenderloin District and Chinatown are all name-checked in this map, which quotes following authors:
- Alice Adams (Second Chances – 1988)
- Isabel Allende (Daughter of Fortune – 1999)
- Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – 1969)
- Gertrude Atherton (The House of Lee – 1940)
- Albert Benard de Russailh (Last Adventure – 1851)
- Ambrose Bierce (The Death of Halpin Frayser – 1891)
- Herb Caen (Herb Caen’s San Francisco – 1957)
- Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – 1968)
- Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – 2000)
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti (Dog – 1958)
- Allen Ginsberg (Sunflower Sutra – 1956)
- Andrew Sean Greer (The Confessions of Max Tivoli – 2004)
- Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon – 1930)
- Robert Hass (Bookbuying in the Tenderloin – 1967)
- Bob Kaufman (No More Jazz at Alcatraz)
- Maxine Hong Kingston (China Men – 1980)
- Jack Kerouac (On the Road – 1957)
- Gus Lee (China Boy – 1991)
- Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City – 1978)
- Czeslaw Milosz (Visions From San Francisco Bay – 1975)
- Alejandro Murguia (The Medicine of Memory – 2002)
- Frank Norris (McTeague – 1899)
- Thomas Pynchon (The Crying of Lot 49 – 1968)
- Ishmael Reed (Earthquake Blues – 1988)
- William Saroyan (The Living and the Dead – 1936)
- John Steinbeck (Travels with Charley – 1961)
- George Sterling (The Cool, Grey City of Love – 1920)
- Robert Louis Stevenson (Arriving in San Francisco – 1879)
- Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club – 1989)
- Michelle Tea (Valencia – 2000)
- Hunter S. Thompson (The Great Shark Hunt – 1964)
- Mark Twain (Early Rising, As Regards Excursions to the Cliff House – 1864)
- Sean Wilsley (On the Glory of It All – 2005)
Funny thing about these quotes by San Francisco-linked writers: ‘Frisco’ pops up twice…
Many thanks to John McMurtrie of the San Francisco Chronicle for sending in this map, which accompanied an article in the Chronicle in mid-July (online version here on SFGate, the paper’s website).
—–
(*) The abbreviation San Fran is apparently equally disliked by the city’s residents.
(**) a low-res version here.
Just for reference, there is no acceptable abbreviation of San Francisco. Locals say “The City.” (As in, “I’m going to a show in the City tonight, do you want to come?”) Slurring it until it sounds like “sarran-sisko” is also fine.
Comment by theo — September 14, 2009 @ 8:31 am
Wonderful post! I particularly like Czesław Miłosz. :-)
Raf
http://uzar.wordpress.com/
Comment by Raf Uzar — September 14, 2009 @ 11:35 am
Apart from the St Petersburg one mentioned above, are there any similar literary maps of other cities, does anyone know?
Comment by blackwatertown — September 14, 2009 @ 11:49 am
[...] Literary map of San Francisco — From Strange Maps. [...]
Pingback by Jay Lake: [links] Link salad says, oh no, Monday again? — September 14, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
“they say his home’s in Frisco where they send the rice, but it’s really in Tennessee”.
I’ll take one awesome Hoosier over a million whining ‘friscans. :P
Comment by KeithW — September 14, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
Very Cool! Thanks.
May All Beings Be Happy.
Comment by blissbait — September 14, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
i was in “frisco” in june…i love it and the map is wonderful!!thanks
Comment by giorgina — September 14, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
HOW COOL IS THAT!!!! I LOVE IT!! :)
http://WWW.THEPRETTYPROJECT.COM
Comment by theprettyproject — September 14, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
Funny thing about these quotes by San Francisco-linked writers: ‘Frisco’ pops up twice…
Yeah, well one of them’s Kerouac, a man who understood nothing, ever. No surprise there. Ginsberg might have known better.
Comment by chris y — September 14, 2009 @ 4:20 pm
“Kerouac, a man who understood nothing, ever”
Christ – did Kerouac run over your dog or something?
Comment by Terry — September 14, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
I live in San Francisco, and I’d have to agree with theo that no abbreviation is completely acceptable but add that they can be ranked in order of offensiveness, as below from least to most.
SF
SFO (airport ID used as shorthand for the city, ich)
San Fran
Frisco
Comment by Camryn — September 14, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
As far as matching neighborhoods with quotes, the Joan Didion quote about Janis Joplin partly overlaps the Haight-Ashbury, where Joplin lived. And the Gus Lee quote about Panhandlers is right above the park called “The Panhandle” (so-called due its narrowness and attachment to neighboring Golden Gate Park). The quote in GG Park, naturally, is about the Park. But annoyingly, the quote about the Cliff House is placed on Ocean Beach south, instead of north, of GG Park, which is incorrect. Likewise, the Gibson quote about the end of the world is not matched with “Land’s End” (and, in fact, isn’t even along ocean shore).
Comment by Jacob — September 14, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
As a follow-up – the Milosz quote about the Bay is properly located in Bayview, and the Saroyan quote about Third Street is properly located in SOMA (South of Market), though which part of Third Street runs.
Comment by Jacob — September 14, 2009 @ 6:30 pm
About this Frisco business:
The situation reminds me of an old Mad magazine bit. It turns out that bulls aren’t angered by red capes. Cows are. Bulls just don’t like to be mistaken for cows. Likewise, the problem with Frisco is not that it is disrespectful in itself, but that it sounds too much like Fresno and nobody wants to be accused of coming from there.
Comment by Jim Harrison — September 14, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
[...] (via Strange Maps) [...]
Pingback by Literary Map of SF « San Francisco, For the Win — September 14, 2009 @ 7:39 pm
If you’d waited a few posts, this could have been number 415– San Francisco’s Area code…
Comment by Punning Pundit — September 14, 2009 @ 8:14 pm
I was born there.
I’m from the district marked with William Gibson’s quote (the Sunset). Now I call it “Frisco”, because the once-golden city has degenerated into lead and brass.
A city’s name should reflect its character. “Frisco” reflects that city’s character, from the Mayor on down.
The adjoining quote, “The City is in a hopeless chaos”, from 1851, is prescient.
I do like the map, though – as a memoir of a city that once was.
I will still call it “the City” (when it’s not Frisco), as a tribute to the city it once was.
That about sums it up: a city that once was.
“I took the air, in Union Square,
and passed a gentleman of that City.
He also took the air, in Union Square,
(and apparently had been, for some days)
Do watch by bag, good sir, I said,
And turned to gaze upon the wondrous sights.
I thought I saw the Emperor Norton, acorss the Square,
And ran to greet him.
Alas, he was not there, and as I returned,
Neither was the gentleman with my bag.”
- – - Gassalacsa Jape
Comment by freedomactionnow — September 14, 2009 @ 8:18 pm
Fascinating. I’ve only been there a few times, but it ranks as one of my favorite cities.
Comment by The Campaign Season — September 14, 2009 @ 8:30 pm
I love the simplicity of San Francisco’s land boundaries – just one straight line and that’s it.
Comment by Lazar — September 14, 2009 @ 8:40 pm
[...] after due and proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word “Frisco,” which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a High Misdemeanor, and [...]
Pingback by We Refuse to Rhyme with “Crisco” « Bernadette Anat — September 14, 2009 @ 8:53 pm
“Don’t call it Frisco” is little more than a provocative title for a book. The argument over what is and is not acceptable to call San Francisco is a silly one, and usually only engaged in by recent imports trying to assert ownership of their new home.
~E♥, Tha ‘Sco, NorCal
Comment by E-luv — September 14, 2009 @ 8:53 pm
[...] (larger version) for The San Francisco Chronicle, inspired by a literary map of St Petersburg. Strange Maps lists the authors and books that make up the quotes featured in the [...]
Pingback by Literary Map of San Francisco — September 14, 2009 @ 9:10 pm
I think this is great. Now someone please click on my site.
Comment by marksusername — September 14, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
The reason you don’t call it frisco or san fran, is because it would be sacraligious, not to mention rude, to shorten Saint Francis’ name. San Francisco. Embellish every syllable. I wouldn’t want people mispronouncing my name when I’m dead, so I like to afford others the same courtesy.
Comment by Johnny G — September 14, 2009 @ 11:18 pm
That is *wicked* cool!! Thanks so much for posting!
P.S. I’ve always abhorred when people called the city “Frisco” — it made me think of that nastiness that is solid vegetable oil!
Comment by Carmen — September 15, 2009 @ 1:36 am
[...] And of course, what the blogging community has to say: (courtesy of Strange Maps) [...]
Pingback by The forbidden “F” word, no more, no more « nicole jones documents — September 15, 2009 @ 6:47 am
I pronounce my home city with a nice and sibilant “Esseff.”
Comment by Ava Peralta — September 15, 2009 @ 7:11 am
[...] the literary city [...]
Pingback by the literary city « un merlo canterino — September 15, 2009 @ 10:16 am
there are places called Frisco in Louisiana, Texas, Utah, and Colorado, all called after San Francisco, or after railroads to San Francisco which passed through them.
The St. Louis – San Francisco Railway is called the Frisco. It never reached the town it was named from. Some people assert this is from “san FRancisco-saint louIS railroad COmpany”. Those people are wrong.
Comment by mollymooly — September 15, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
Anyone know why the Eggers quote follows the path of I-80?
This reminded me of the passage about Tamara from Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities”:
“Your gaze scans the streets as if they were written pages: the city says everything you must think, makes you repeat her discourse, and while you believe you’re visiting Tamara you are only recording the names with which she defines herself and all her parts. However the city may really be, beneath this thick coating of signs, whatever it may contain or conceal, you leave Tamara without having discovered it. Outside, the land stretches, empty, to the horizon; the sky opens, with speeding clouds.”
-Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
Comment by C Neal — September 15, 2009 @ 6:03 pm
[...] Literary map of San Francisco [...]
Pingback by Strange Maps « Amnesia Blog — September 16, 2009 @ 3:11 am
[...] Literary map of San Francisco [...]
Pingback by Strange Maps « Clazie — September 16, 2009 @ 3:12 am
I’ve never been to an American city where the locals shorten the name or–heaven forfend–use a nickname. Neighborhood names get shortened sometimes but never cities. For example, “Pedro” is in “Los Angeles”.
Comment by Benjamin Florin — September 17, 2009 @ 3:48 am
Just because Kerouac was a bum trying to escape responsibilities at the time of “On the Road” doesn’t mean he knew nothing, ever.
Comment by Hal — September 17, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
Thank you for new ideas.
Comment by Monthon — September 19, 2009 @ 11:31 am
Neighborhood names get shortened sometimes but never cities. For example, “Pedro” is in “Los Angeles”.
Huh? That’s a really bad example. I grew up in Ellay. Very seldom did anyone bother to say “Los Angeles.”
We once had a mayor (Sam Yorty) who called it “Loss Ang’liss” …)
Comment by Mike G in Corvallis — September 19, 2009 @ 9:19 pm
Damn hippies.
Comment by Sam Huddy — September 19, 2009 @ 10:18 pm
Nice post. Thanks
Comment by gamer — September 20, 2009 @ 1:44 pm
I’d say the Eggers quote lies where it does because he’s most associated with the Mission District. The 826 Valencia youth reading program he founded is there, for example.
Comment by Huntington — September 20, 2009 @ 7:59 pm
It doesn’t have anything to do with Frisco, but I thought you might want to consider a map of Silesia – this areas really seems to be hotting up. Check out my post:
http://uzar.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/silesians-want-autonomy/
Raf
http://uzar.wordpress.com/
Comment by Raf Uzar — September 21, 2009 @ 7:27 am
Re #33 & #36: isn’t ‘Los Angeles’ itself a shortened form of that city’s true name?
Comment by P Terry Hunt — September 21, 2009 @ 7:06 pm
who cares about frisco or san fran… how do you buy a print of this?
Comment by stephanie — September 24, 2009 @ 2:37 am
[...] Nice: Lit Map of Frisco http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/411-lit-map-of-frisco/ [...]
Pingback by Carles Bellver (carles) 's status on Sunday, 27-Sep-09 10:40:15 UTC - Identi.ca — September 27, 2009 @ 10:40 am
Excellent map.
http://doctorbeatnik.wordpress.com/
Comment by Steven Harris — September 28, 2009 @ 4:27 pm
[...] The Literary City Based on a similar map of St Petersburg by Vera Evstafieva and Andrew Biliter (**), this one places city-relevant quotes on a San Francisco map, where possible on the district the quote relates to. San Francisco Bay, cable cars, the Mission, the Tenderloin District and Chinatown are all name-checked in this map, which quotes following authors: [...]
Pingback by San Francisco in Lit « mirabile dictu — October 4, 2009 @ 4:09 am
[...] Literary Map of San Francisco Based on a similar map of St Petersburg by Vera Evstafieva and Andrew Biliter (**), this one places city-relevant quotes on a San Francisco map, where possible on the district the quote relates to. San Francisco Bay, cable cars, the Mission, the Tenderloin District and Chinatown are all name-checked in this map, which quotes following authors: [...]
Pingback by Literary San Francisco « elusive . . . — October 4, 2009 @ 4:48 am
This map could’ve been greatly simplified (or maybe just overlayed) with one of the first European observations of the region:
“nipping cold,” “thick mists and most stinking fogges.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/12/MN2J19KKLS.DTL&type=printable
http://baynature.org/articles/jan-mar-2006/first-encounters
Sir Francis Drake’s expedition on June 17, 1579 (actually not in SF, but in what he called New Albion, now known as Pt. Reyes). I think it’s quite appropriate that the summer weather was so well characterized at such an early date, indeed 200 years before the bay itself was discovered.
Bonus maps:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Glonass_availability.gif
Page 10 of this large PDF: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf
Comment by Andy K — October 6, 2009 @ 2:51 am
Don’t call it ‘Frisco’
Comment by Branden — October 23, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
[...] Ideals! I crack up at the Hotel Know It All. Quite a few acquaintances of mine take rooms there), Lit Map of Frisco (the city I absolutely wanna visit in the US… comes highly recommended from pa, B and the lovely [...]
Pingback by Another autumn coffee-break mishmash « 3chickeninthekitchen’s Blog — October 26, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
[...] Just discovered Strange Maps. It’s taken me far too long. Below is #411: [...]
Pingback by Strange Maps, and the Literary City | Moneydick — October 30, 2009 @ 6:40 am
Not being from San Francisco, but have spent some years living here, I frankly don’t care what people call it. I’ve referred to it as the West Bay lately, to sort of break down the mental barrier between “the city” and what is commonly called, the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley & Beyond!).
However, I will say that SF/OAK is no Manhattan/Brooklyn. But San Francisco has always competed above its class. It remains a city of only a few over 800,000 people.
The label of San Francisco as “The Literary City” is fun, it almost implies that San Francisco is not any more literary in itself than any other city, but gets legitimized through these strong representations in the words of local artists. See links below to compare this map to the somewhat similarly laid out map of San Francisco neighborhoods, on sale of course in Mission shops in all varieties of colours to meet your original tastes and decorating needs.
octopoe
http://octopoe.wordpress.com/
links:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2009/2111358650_22cd63ba87.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonbauer/2111358650/&usg=__z6LvAhc6Y00U9ARS8G5yJLIjDBM=&h=500&w=500&sz=105&hl=en&start=27&um=1&tbnid=ejtLa2e8hJLTfM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsan%2Bfrancisco%2Bneighborhood%2Bmap%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1
Comment by octopoe — November 22, 2009 @ 6:56 am
I’m a 4th generation San Franciscan. No one in my family (on either mother’s or father’s side) has lived outside the borders of San Francisco since the 1920’s – well before Herb Caen ever came along. “Frisco” is perfectly acceptable to this “local”.
http://www.friscovista.com/news/2006/12/03/dont-call-it-frisco/
In a city know for bucking the status quo and opening its arms to different points of view, it sure gets this one wrong. Time to grow up Frisco.
Comment by JBL — November 24, 2009 @ 11:58 pm