After a week in San Francisco I found lots of things I liked, and a few that I didn't like. Some things met my expectations and some didn't. One thing that truly missed the mark in a BIG way was the City Lights Bookstore. I was really looking forward to this little piece of history tucked away in the North Beach area. I was SERIOUSLY disappointed. 
But, right next door the Beat Movement got some of its historical glimmer back for me in the form of the Vesuvio's. This unofficial bar of the Beat Writers is located right next door. I'd give my eye-teeth for the amazing oak bar. And, Janet, who at first appears to be just a really cool woman who's worked there for 30 years, then let slip that she owns the joint, is one of the nicest bartenders I've met in many a year.
Make sure to check out Poet's Alley outside and the cool mural. Here's the poem scribbled outside:
When the shadow of the grasshopper
Falls across the trail of the field mouse
On green and slimy grass as a red sun rises
Above the western horizon silhouetting
A gaunt and tautly muscled Indian warrior
Perched with bow and arrow cocked and aimed
Straight at you it's time for another martini
A wee bit of history of the joint. In October of 1955 Neal Cassidy (Dean Moriarity of "On The Road") stopped by for a shot of liquid liberation at Vesuvio's on his way to a poetry reading at the Six Gallery. It was at this moment that Vesuvio's became the official pub of choice for the Beats. Vesuvio's was established in 1948 and also has the distinction of being the place where Jack Kerouac holed up and cancelled a meeting with author Henry Miller, who wanted to meet the young author after reading and being impressed by "Dharma Bums." Henry waited it out in Big Sur as Jack whiled away the hours at Vesuvio's. The night got longer, and the meeting never occurred.
Back to the letdown of City Light's. Okay-I'm all for a book store. I LOVE a book store. I go to cities just to visit their book stores. But, I have to be completely honest, City Light's didn't live up to the hype. First, most of their stock is trade paper. I guess this is the price range of the hundreds upon hundreds of tourists who troop through the front door every day looking for a glimmer of the Beat hotspot. But, I just wanted a book. I thought it would be a rockin bookstore that I'd while away the hours at...not. The help is not exactly fantastic either. Okay-I'd be tired of "Hey, do you have blah, blah, blah" from a million tourists, but maybe I thought that a booker would recognize the soul of a true book lover. Apparently not. My friend got barked at and I got disappointed when I asked if they had any other work translated into English by Luis Fernando Verissimo and the guy looked at me as if I had asked if he wouldn't mind terribly if I peed in his hand. I'm not sure if he'd not heard of Verissimo or if he had a personal beef with the Brazilian, but City Light's can't help you if you're looking for his work.
So, the good and the bad, the touristy and the terrible. What did I truly expect? Well, I dreamed I'd find a dusty signed copy of Little Big. What I found was a great salty dog next door. Life is just full of compromise.
But, right next door the Beat Movement got some of its historical glimmer back for me in the form of the Vesuvio's. This unofficial bar of the Beat Writers is located right next door. I'd give my eye-teeth for the amazing oak bar. And, Janet, who at first appears to be just a really cool woman who's worked there for 30 years, then let slip that she owns the joint, is one of the nicest bartenders I've met in many a year.
Make sure to check out Poet's Alley outside and the cool mural. Here's the poem scribbled outside:
When the shadow of the grasshopper
Falls across the trail of the field mouse
On green and slimy grass as a red sun rises
Above the western horizon silhouetting
A gaunt and tautly muscled Indian warrior
Perched with bow and arrow cocked and aimed
Straight at you it's time for another martini
A wee bit of history of the joint. In October of 1955 Neal Cassidy (Dean Moriarity of "On The Road") stopped by for a shot of liquid liberation at Vesuvio's on his way to a poetry reading at the Six Gallery. It was at this moment that Vesuvio's became the official pub of choice for the Beats. Vesuvio's was established in 1948 and also has the distinction of being the place where Jack Kerouac holed up and cancelled a meeting with author Henry Miller, who wanted to meet the young author after reading and being impressed by "Dharma Bums." Henry waited it out in Big Sur as Jack whiled away the hours at Vesuvio's. The night got longer, and the meeting never occurred.
Back to the letdown of City Light's. Okay-I'm all for a book store. I LOVE a book store. I go to cities just to visit their book stores. But, I have to be completely honest, City Light's didn't live up to the hype. First, most of their stock is trade paper. I guess this is the price range of the hundreds upon hundreds of tourists who troop through the front door every day looking for a glimmer of the Beat hotspot. But, I just wanted a book. I thought it would be a rockin bookstore that I'd while away the hours at...not. The help is not exactly fantastic either. Okay-I'd be tired of "Hey, do you have blah, blah, blah" from a million tourists, but maybe I thought that a booker would recognize the soul of a true book lover. Apparently not. My friend got barked at and I got disappointed when I asked if they had any other work translated into English by Luis Fernando Verissimo and the guy looked at me as if I had asked if he wouldn't mind terribly if I peed in his hand. I'm not sure if he'd not heard of Verissimo or if he had a personal beef with the Brazilian, but City Light's can't help you if you're looking for his work.
So, the good and the bad, the touristy and the terrible. What did I truly expect? Well, I dreamed I'd find a dusty signed copy of Little Big. What I found was a great salty dog next door. Life is just full of compromise.
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