Confessions of Madame Psyche: Memoirs and Letters of Mei-Li Murrow by Dorothy Bryant.

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An American Book Award Winner,  “ensconed in the rich history of Northern California in the first half of the twentieth century, and peopled by comrades of many classes and cultures and lovers both male and female; but her central odyssey remains one of inner discovery. In Confessions of Madame Psyche, Dorothy Bryant has created a character who is so honest in her search for truth, growth, and spiritual understanding that this quest becomes inherent to her survival. – Publisher’s Description.  Dorothy Bryant is a native San Franciscan, and the author of The Berkeley Pit and many other novels and plays. 

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Not a Genuine Black Man, or, How I Claimed My Piece of Ground in the Lily-White Suburbs by Brian Copeland.

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Laugh through tears at Copeland’s chronicle of a black childhood in white San Leandro. “Honest and engaging, this memoir is a valuable book for anyone trying to straddle racial lines, for anyone who has ever felt out of place.” – Publishers Weekly

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The Year of Fog: by Michelle Richmond.

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“Here is the truth, this is what I know: we were walking on Ocean Beach, hand in hand. It was a summer morning, cold, July in San Francisco. The fog lay white and dense over the sand and ocean — an enveloping mist so thick I could see only a few feet in front of me.” Thus begins Michelle Richmond‘s Year of Fog.

What marks us, and how do we react to our impressions, both large and small, of life? These are the questions asked by San Francisco author Michelle Richmond in her wonderful second novel, The Year of the Fog. – Clea Simon, San Francisco Chronicle

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Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford Edited by Peter Y. Sussman.

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Can’t wait to read this collection edited by journalist Peter Y. Sussman,  featured on KALW-FM Radio’s literary programming on Sunday.  Read a fuller reaction to Decca here.  “Fifth of the noted Mitford sisters, Jessica (called Decca since childhood) eschewed family politics but kept her mother’s practice of prodigious letter writing, leaving reams of lively correspondence to family and friends, including some of the intelligentsia of her time.  Her letters are forthright, warm, and witty to the point of being laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes serving as epistolary notes for her investigative journalism. Dubbed “Queen of the Muckrakers” for her landmark book The American Way of Death, she took strong stands against injustice and exploitation, becoming estranged from family members, particularly sisters Unity and Diana, early friends of Hitler. (In 1943 she wrote Winston Churchill, uncle of her first husband, who died in action in the war, protesting his release from prison of Diana and her Fascist leader husband.) Each of nine chronological chapters begins with photographs and brief biographical summaries, providing social history from Decca’s days as a Communist Party member and civil-rights activist to acclaimed author.” – Booklist

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Fear of a Black Marker: Another K Chronicles Compendium: Cartoons by Keith Knight.

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His second beautiful collection of cartoons about life in San Francisco circa 2000. Brutally honest, and not for the faint of heart.   – R. Kutler

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