Kindle
$12.15
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$29.90
Paperback
$12.79
Buy new:
-33% $12.79
FREE delivery Monday, May 13 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$12.79 with 33 percent savings
List Price: $18.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Monday, May 13 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 5 hrs 5 mins
In Stock
$$12.79 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.79
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$9.97
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
This item shows wear including some highlighting or writing and moderate wear to edges and cover. This item shows wear including some highlighting or writing and moderate wear to edges and cover. See less
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$12.79 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.79
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

David Talbot
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love Paperback – March 5, 2013

by David Talbot (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,518 ratings
Editors' pick Best Nonfiction
See all formats and editions
Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
iphone with kindle app
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Get the free Kindle app: Link to the kindle app page Link to the kindle app page
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
View Kindle Edition
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$12.79","priceAmount":12.79,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"12","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"79","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"%2Fc9M6JFDbhbwhgkySs5ELcclW05Xp3JyrYyRv%2BCrPPXkwYoyQnKRbAB%2BRl67O9xTMGJMe1ELXhl6d8VJ1rfe4GOpqMszj0Sgoqd8imbkv8%2BRWCz3Fy2E9oUk3Wyvm3OG4ow0T8xT%2FNyiLrGDuXqRZQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$9.97","priceAmount":9.97,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"97","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"%2Fc9M6JFDbhbwhgkySs5ELcclW05Xp3JyPuYiL1SIJu5nfrwhPJPpzsPAeaWKTWGIYLnc6hwwKYBaAKiRnrVzek53DSggEGbKLgjT%2Bz14%2F8ivU5X4RMzDgOEWseRddKwxTH8IHdyZMruf%2FafeDr37kVV14ir1gkHaKaGLKIWwNMwo1r2E%2FWnthy4BqC%2FF2xLO","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

The critically acclaimed, San Francisco Chronicle bestseller—a gripping story of the strife and tragedy that led to San Francisco’s ultimate rebirth and triumph.

Salon founder David Talbot chronicles the cultural history of San Francisco and from the late 1960s to the early 1980s when figures such as Harvey Milk, Janis Joplin, Jim Jones, and Bill Walsh helped usher from backwater city to thriving metropolis.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    480 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    March 5, 2013
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1439108242
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1439108246
  7. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love
$12.79
Get it as soon as Monday, May 13
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco
$14.32
Get it as soon as Monday, May 13
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld
$13.93
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Exhaustive research yields penetrating character studies…Talbot incisively relates the atmosphere of service in the Haight…In a surprising ending, Talbot convincingly suggests that imperfect new mayor Dianne Feinstein resurrected the city’s heart as it rallied around the 49ers. In exhilarating fashion, Talbot clears the rainbow mist and brings San Francisco into sharp focus.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Talbot presents gripping accounts of both crime sprees and football showdowns. Even people who were there might take away something new, and for others, the book offers a comprehensive introduction to the era.” —Booklist

“A gritty corrective to our rosy memories…enthralling, news-driven history...smart and briskly paced tale... I found it hard to put down Season of the Witch." —San Francisco Chronicle

“An ambitious, labor-of-love illumination of a city’s soul, celebrating the uniqueness of San Francisco without minimizing the price paid for the city’s free-spiritedness… the author encompasses the city’s essence… Talbot loves his city deeply and knows it well, making the pieces of the puzzle fit together, letting the reader understand…Talbot takes the reader much deeper than cliché, exploring a San Francisco that tourists never discover.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

About the Author

David Talbot, author of the New York Times bestseller Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, is the founder and CEO of Salon. He lives in San Francisco.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Free Press; Reprint edition (March 5, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1439108242
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1439108246
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.27 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,518 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
David Talbot

David Talbot

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

David Talbot is the New York Times-bestselling author of "The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA and the Rise of America's Secret Government" and "Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years," as well as the national bestseller "Season of the Witch." His most recent book, "By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution," chronicles dramatic turning (and learning) points in the lives of 1960s and '70s radical leaders. Jessica Bruder, author of "Nomadland," wrote that the book "crackles with the radical energy of the 1960s and ’70s. It’s a shot in the arm of bold idealism, an indispensable companion for today’s revolutionaries that reminds us what can happen if we dare to believe in—and fight for—a better world.”

Talbot coauthored "By the Light of Burning Dreams" with his sister Margaret Talbot, a staff writer at The New Yorker and author of "The Entertainer," a memoir about their actor father Lyle Talbot and the golden age of Hollywood.

Before starting his career as a popular historian, Talbot founded and edited Salon, the pioneering online publication, and worked as a senior editor for Mother Jones magazine. His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Time, the Washington Post, the Guardian and numerous other publications, and he was a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. He is married to author Camille Peri, who is writing a dual biography of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson. Their oldest son, Joe Talbot, directed the widely praised film, "The Last Black Man in San Francisco," which won him the Best Director Award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
1,518 global ratings
The Usual Suspects
5 Stars
The Usual Suspects
Great Book. After reading it I thought I would get a more accurate insight as to how the criminal justice system handled this influx of hippies so I decided to visit my father's co-worker who was the last living survivor of the Juvenile Probation Officers of San Francisco, otherwise known as the 'Usual Suspects' from the 1960's.When I posed the question of their department's responsibility along with the police enforcement to him he answered, " The police would round them up and bring them to Juvenile Hall where we would lock them up in one of the 400 cells and call their parents to send a one way ticket to send them back where they came from. My father was a staunch, conservative Republican and I was a liberal Democrat.We lived in the heart of the Haight & Ashbury (Love) district and he decided to move the family out to the Richmond District to get away from the movement, however. it was too late because I joined the Peace, Love & Happiness movement wearing John Lennon glasses and smelling of patchouli oil, going to rock concerts so he ended up relegating me to my bedroom cell quite often. And that's the rest of the story!
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

kazucat
5.0 out of 5 stars An informative and highly entertaining read about 60s-early 80s San Francisco
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
San Francisco is an amazing city, and this book captures all the love, turbulence, and craziness of a memorable 2 decades. It's SO well written. We've given this book to many friends, and even those who lived in SF during some of these incredibly turbulent times were blown away. An excellent excellent read.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Steven Mickey
5.0 out of 5 stars well researched....a delightful read
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2023
Verified Purchase
Haing lived in the area from 1982 to 2007,...it was fascinating to to understand and the context of San Francisco/bay area history from the 60's and 70's before lived there. This book vividly and eloquently contextualixed my own experience of living there for over thirty years. The author captured the zeitgiest of my beloved San Francisco. I pracised Pharmacy in the castro where I also met Cleve Jones..one of the people who valiantly dealt with the horrific carnage of the aids epidemic. As a personal aside..I would not be writing this book review had I not practised celebacy for many years ..not an easy thing to do for a 25 year old man. The end of the book was especialy poignant for me when it it seemed as if
cleve Jones was on the cusp of dying..........just turned 65 a few days ago...we made it,
Cleve!
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
WritingKim
4.0 out of 5 stars Leaving your heart in San Francisco
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2014
Verified Purchase
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 loved 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. I gave it an 8.5 on my book club website. We all know change is hard, but Talbot showed us just how hard it really is.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Edward Chow
5.0 out of 5 stars Season of the Witch
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2024
Verified Purchase
I have had several high recommendations that is book is well written and thoroughly researched.
I have given this book as gifts to several friends..
Helpful
 Report
James R. Gilligan
5.0 out of 5 stars The good, the bad, and the very ugly
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017
Verified Purchase
Talbot’s well written and insightful book provides an entertaining and enlightening look at the recent history of the city of San Francisco. From the 1950s and 1960s, when the city began to shape its identity as a haven for iconoclasts and “alternative” types through the turbulence of the 1970s to the both admirable and regrettable developments of the end of the twentieth century, Talbot’s critical eye reports on the good, the bad, and the very ugly.

Although the author eschews the temptation to romanticize San Francisco’s multidimensional history, he acknowledges all the best that the city has to offer as he portrays the struggles and hardships that many readers might not be aware of—for example, the racial divide that vexed the city for much of the 1970s and the uneasy political partnerships that existed between venerable liberal figures like Mayor George Moscone, Harvey Milk, and the Peoples Temple, Jim Jones’ suicide cult, which once held an eerie degree of political power in the city.

Talbot devotes large sections of the book to the SLA and its abduction of Patty Hearst, San Francisco’s evolution as the gay capital of the US (if not the world), the strange ordeal of the Peoples Temple, Dan White’s assassination of Moscone and Milk, Dianne Feinstein’s political ascension, and other bits of history both profound (the Zebra murders) and uplifting (the 49ers’ triumph as NFL champions).

Overall, a compelling examination of the city of San Francisco, and a must-read for anyone who lives there or who has ever been curious about the city’s unique appeal.
34 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
LJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Great historical snapshot of the Bay Area
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
From the perspective of a native bay area resident this book was fascinating. I learned so much about the events we experienced growing up there. I was going to share it with a friend but have decided to keep it as a reference book.
My only complaint was the omission of Rep Jackie Speier in the Jonestown chapter. She is a true hero who survived being shot 5 times and waiting 22 hours for help.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Pamela Griffith
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and well researched.
Reviewed in Australia on November 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
One of the best written books in a documentary style that I have ever read. It is a useful tool in understanding social change that has not just affected America but also the rest of the western world.
Report
Sen
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
Simply fantastic piece of scholarship, this book contextualises magnificently the late 60s to the early 80s in SF. If you want to learn about what makes this place special and occasionally terrifying, pick this up. I read it in two days: a real page-turner. Well written.
Report
Ciaran Corbally
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
Excellent book if you are interested in SF - fast paced and keeps you intrigued with hope, tragedy, music sport, the AIDS epidemic , and of course politics as well
Report