by Marcus Mason (Author), Brian Weiss (Illustrator)

Set against the hills, fog, and contradictions of San Francisco, Frisco Fairytales moves

through the neighborhoods and generations of a city in perpetual tension. A "utopia"

and a hellscape, sometimes on the same block. The stories explore class and

gentrification, street-level crime and consequence, love and loyalty, and the particular

ache of nostalgia for a city that keeps changing beneath your feet. Characters range

from a young woman navigating a drug empire and a toxic ex, to a boy who believes he

was born on the moon; from teenagers on prom night to a meditation on the weight of

grief. Taken together, the stories form a vivid, funny, heartbreaking portrait of what it

means to grow up as a local in one of the world's most mythologized cities.

The title itself is a provocation. The book's preface opens with the history of the

nickname, "Frisco", and a reminder of the often segregated cultures within the city. The

collection is dedicated, in part, to the memory of the Sucka Free City itself.

From the Preface:

This collection of short stories is about what it means to grow up in a utopia, hell

on earth, and the cross streets in between. While these "fairytales" are not meant for

young children, my hope is that a copy will land in the hands of some kids in the city

who can relate, reflect, and laugh at these stories. The City offers its youth many

paths and traps. As locals, we dance with rage through the beauty and hypocrisy. If

you are not from San Francisco, it's fine; I am sure you will still understand 95% of

the concepts in this book. I have also added a glossary for all the Bay slang I put to

use.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you, the reader, that Frisco is located on

sacred soil. It also happened to go from being one of the cheapest major cities in the

U.S. to one of the most expensive in the world. Regardless of time period or

economic status, this land is magical, and it is our responsibility to give it the respect

and honor that it deserves. The way that we interact with the city demonstrates the

respect we pay to it. Simply owning, renting, or inheriting property here is not

enough to claim it or treat it as you please. The city might just slap you back.

I would also like to be clear; We call it Frisco, but many, even locals, don't.

Everyone from the city agrees 'San Fran' is the tourist nickname, but the local

bourgeoisie class always hated 'Frisco' more. In 1953, a journalist and author by the

name of Herb Caen wrote a book titled Don't Call It Frisco. He argued, "Frisco shows

disrespect to a city that is now big and proper and respectable." In other words, it

was the nickname of the poor. Caen grew up in Sacramento in the 1920s, and moved

to Nob Hill for a job at the Chronicle in the late 1930s. Dude wasn't even from the

city. In 1995, one year after I was born, and two years before he died, Caen wrote a

final piece for the Chronicle, again titled "Don't Call it Frisco." Caen's work

influenced thousands, at least from the north side of the city, to loathe the term.

Calling the city Frisco, or not, to this day is a reflection of your relationship to the

culture, the people, and the land. This nickname, and the controversy surrounding it,

exemplifies the themes of class, romance, and rebellion in these stories. Regardless of

the attempts to remove the city's working class nickname, it will be Frisco forever,

and we are on Ohlone land.

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