Season of the Witch:  Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love

by David Talbot

What do the Symbionese Liberation Army, Charles Mason, Jonestown, Harvey Milk, George Moscone, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Peter Coyote have in common?  San Francisco in the 1960’s and 1970’s.  It was a tough 20 years, but our one and only true flower child made it through the turbulence and forever changed the status quo.

I’ve been lucky to have traveled to San Francisco quite a few times in my life and every time I go I re-fall in love with it.  The last time I went with my two teenagers and was surprised that they also liked San Francisco.      I love the look, the feel, the mildness of the city.    And most of all, I love the way the city has built up over the years, layer upon layer of divergent, yet compatible buildings, soaked in fog in the morning and bathed in sunlight in the afternoon.

It’s beauty has always caused some jealously between the newcomers  and its long standing inhabitants, but nothing like the tumultuous 60’s.  Everything was changing, and changing fast, and David Talbot chronicles these changes in a gripping story with all the intrigue of a suspense-filled thriller.    We all know the outcome, but we didn’t know all the parts in motion.

It wasn’t just Haight-Asbury that turned away from conventional wisdom,  varies parts of the City would take their own turn in the spotlight.  It’s truly amazing that the City came through this ticking-time bomb.

Although, you’ll  know the names of the people who came up through the drug haze to become famous for one thing or another, you’ll  be amazed at the number of them,  and the differing reasons for their fame.

This is a good book for book club because you will have very interesting  discussions.  The right and wrong of the City at the time is so evident to us leaning back and reading about them, but imagine living through it.  The doctors that made a decision to help all these kids coming into the City.  It wasn’t all bad.

Although, my favorite in this genre is “Devil in the White City,” I loved this book and think it will be a good edition to your book club choices.   We all know change is hard, but Talbot showed us just how hard it really is.

Rating: 8.5