Season of the Witch

Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love

By: David Talbot

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, History, 2013

Season of the Witch is the first book to fully capture the dark magic of San Francisco in this breathtaking period, when the city radically changed itself - and then revolutionized the world. The cool gray city of love was the epicenter of the 1960s cultural revolution. But by the early 1970s, San Francisco’s ecstatic experiment came crashing down from its starry heights. The city was rocked by savage murder sprees, mysterious terror campaigns, political assassinations, street riots, and finally a terrifying sexual epidemic. No other city endured so many calamities in such a short time span.

David Talbot takes us deep into the riveting story of his city’s ascent, decline, and heroic recovery. He draws intimate portraits of San Francisco’s legendary demons and saviors: Charles Manson, Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Bill Graham, Herb Caen, the Cockettes, Harvey Milk, Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, Joe Montana and the Super Bowl 49ers. He reveals how the city emerged from the trials of this period with a new brand of “San Francisco values”, including gay marriage, medical marijuana, immigration sanctuary, universal health care, recycling, renewable energy, consumer safety, and a living wage mandate. Considered radical when they were first introduced, these ideas have become the bedrock of decent society in many parts of the country, and exemplify the ways that the city now inspires us toward a live-and-let-live tolerance, a shared sense of humanity, and an openness to change.

As a new generation of activists and dreamers seeks its own path to a more enlightened future, Season of the Witch - with its epic tale of the wild and bloody birth of San Francisco values - offers both inspiration and cautionary wisdom.

©2012 David Talbot (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Fascinating book, great narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you are interested in San Francisco, the Summer of Love, the Gay Movement, etc., you will love this book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

Which character – as performed by Arthur Morey – was your favorite?

N/A

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This non-fiction book about San Francisco was as captivating as a mystery novel. It was moving, scary and amazing.

San Francisco warts and all...

If you truly love San Francisco, this is the book for you. It gives you a deeper look at the grit that created a city known for its grit. After the Summer of Love (1967) came, some dark elements arose which were essentially a capitalist backlash against the communal example being set by those in the Haight-Ashbury district.

Hoover’s COINTELPRO came and spelled the beginning of some dark days in San Francisco. The “hippie movement” (or the true counterculture) simply couldn’t be allowed to work.

This book goes into the darkness that was created following the Summer of Love in San Francisco (w/some brief history leading up to it).

Loved it

All the history I was looking for and then some. If you've ever adored SF this is for you

LOVED this book!

I loved this book from beginning to end. The history and stories were fascinating especially when growing up in the Bay Area. Excellent read!

SF is the setting but it’s the epic story of an era

Yes San Francisco is a magical place. But it’s people, their resilience, character, charm and empathy make it world renowned. This book is about those extraordinary people, their vision and grit that altered and enlightened our society forever. Born in SF and having lived through all of it, I still learned so much.

So Much Fun!

For anyone who is a San Francisco native, or anyone (like me) who moved to SF more than 20 years ago, this is a fun reminiscence of the SF people, politics and events of SF's recent past. For all listeners, David Talbott weaves together notable people and events (the Halinans, Herb Caen, Harvey Milk, Jim Jones/People's Temple, Patty Hearst/SLA, the AIDS crisis, the rise of the 49ers, to name just a few) that formed the trajectory that defines the unique politics, diversity, people, culture and fun of present day San Francisco.

Awesome

I’ve lived here my whole life and so appreciated hearing a recounting of the City and region that I have known, at times from afar and at times closer. What a special place to be.

Excellent Book

An incredible account of history and stories that helped create and evolve San Francisco into the city it is today.

"Bagdad on the Bay"!!!

Great story telling, harsh with truthful memories, gentle with compassion! Captivating, impossible to put down!

The Battle for the Soul of San Francisco

Well... It took me months to listen to, digest, and absorb this book. But it was absolutely enjoyable, epic, educational and deeply resonant. Being a child of the 60s and thinking I knew something about the City which had "flowers in her hair", my eyes and ears were opened by David Talbot about the dark, conflictual, and troubled history of the City of Love. Of course, I knew about Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Patty Hearst, Harvey Milk, Bill Walsh, the Castro and Haight Ashbury, and I knew of Altamont, Jim Jones, the Hells Angles, and the AIDS epidemic, but I didn't know about Vincent Hallinan, the two-fisted legal godfather of the City or his vitriolic Catholic rival, Joseph Aliota. I didn't know of the decades-long battle for the soul of the City that not only brought us the Summer of Love, but followed it with decades of murder, darkness, plague, and eventually... resurrection. If you love a great non-fiction book that turns pages like a potboiler, listen to "Season of the Witch"!