It’s hard to decide where to point people when they come to San Francisco. The answer to “What is there to do?” generally ends up being “Well, what do you want to do?” Sure, there are the good ol’ touristy standbys: the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, SFMOMA and the Conservatory of Flowers. These destinations would make anyone set down their vacation paperback and explore a little. But why not plan a day during which you can bring that vacation paperback with you? If you constantly have a book in your bag or back pocket, then this bookworm’s guide to San Francisco is exactly what you need.
1) Off the Road and in a House
Most people have heard of Jack Kerouac and probably know that he had this thing about getting on the road. He was a famous member of the Beat Generation, and there are plaques that honor him in all his former favorite haunts — especially in North Beach.
If you take the Russian Hill tour with San Francisco City Guides, you can see the house in which Kerouac began his most famous novel, On the Road. It’s an unassuming 1.5-story home tucked away on a side street. Someone lives there, so you can’t poke around in it, but there’s something romantic about being able to see through the windows of the home where the novel was started.
2) City Lights Bookstore
After you’ve sighed and swooned over a stranger’s home, you can walk a few blocks to North Beach and wander through City Lights Bookstore, a San Francisco literary staple that’s famous for being the independent publishing company that put many of the Beats on paper. Each shelf is full of books of just about every genre, and the tight aisles and sturdy wooden shelves give the place that classic bookshop vibe.
Up a few flights of stairs, all the way at the top of the store, is the poetry room. There’s a rocking chair for poets (it says so on the back) and shelf after shelf of poetry of every type, angled from floor to ceiling. A visit to this room alone is a reason to stop by the store.
2a) Green Apple Books
If you don’t want that much Beat in your bookworm tour, then get your happy ass up to Clement Street in the Richmond district. Less than a full two blocks up from Burma Superstar — where you’ve got to get breakfast if you haven’t yet — is Green Apple Books. It embodies the spirit of San Francisco architecture in that it’s actually two storefronts married together. Fiction, poetry, magazines and records are all in one store, and best sellers, biographies and children’s books are in the other.
What I love about Green Apple Books is that the staff there really love books. It’s not uncommon during checkout for the employee ringing you up to get a big smile on their face as they ask, “Have you read this yet?” and then, regardless of your answer, start telling you how much they loved this book and how all their customers loved it and how—oh, man—you’re in for such a treat. There’s something about having someone hand you a book over the counter while grinning that makes it read better later.
3) A Courtyard for an Emperor
If you make the jump across Kearney Street and sneak down Commercial Street, you’ll pass by a small courtyard with bright-yellow benches. This is the site of the former Eureka Lodgings boarding house, where Emperor Norton once lived. The Emperor made and then quickly lost his fortune in the mid-1800s, but declared himself Emperor of the United States anyway. The courtyard is dedicated to his memory. This is a fun, often overlooked piece of history in San Francisco’s Financial District. It also has the potential to tie into a book from one of my favorite authors.
Now this is just me posing a theory, but in Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job, the protagonist makes friends with a neighborhood character who calls himself “The Emperor of San Francisco.” He and his dogs patrol the streets at night, keeping the city safe and even occasionally fighting demon birds. I think Moore’s emperor may have been more than a little based on our buddy Norton. I haven’t asked Moore myself to confirm this theory — but if anyone can point me in his direction, I’d love to chat and see how close I am.
4) Drinking in the Library
End your bookworm tour by stopping for a whiskey at Hotel Rex’s Library Bar. While there aren’t actually enough books in this quiet and quirky lounge to make much of a library, with its low lighting and small tables, it certainly feels like one. And who hasn’t wanted to drink in their library — and not out of the water bottle you smuggled in your backpack?
Library Bar scores points for keeping real books on the shelves and making simple but tasty cocktails. And if you show up on the right night of the week, they host an honest-to-God salon! Bring your writerly aspirations and your favorite paperback, and enjoy.
