1906

by James Dalessandro

Book Overview

Every disaster has a backstory, none more thrilling than this one. Set during the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, this page-turning tale of political corruption, vendettas, romance, rescue--and murder--is based on recently uncovered facts that forever change our understanding of what really happened. Told by a feisty young reporter, Annalisa Passarelli, the novel paints a vivid picture of the Victorian-era city, from the mansions of Nob Hill...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811843130
• ISBN13: 9780811843133
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 364 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 1.0" x 1.0"

Customer Reviews

1906

Best book I've read in a very long time. This novel paints a rich picture of what life was like in the corrupt and nearly lawless city of San Francisco at the turn of the century. Fascinating.

An exciting, page-turner

As a bookseller, it is great to have a book you can handsell with conviction knowing that your customers will return and thank you for the recommendation. James Dalessandro has written a thrilling depiction of early 20th century San Francisco. The story includes memorable fictional characters along with true-life ones who come together at a pivotal point in history. The plot, based on the corruption during that era, is satisfying enough to keep the pages turning earthquake or not. I agree with all the positive reviews prior to this one - it is without a doubt one of the top novels of 2004 and deserves best-seller status. I loved it.

About Time

I am probably in a small minority of people who knew much of this story before I read it. I am 71 years old and my mother, her parents and many of their friends survived the horrible 1906 earthquake and fires. Growing up, I heard countless stories about what happened. Everyone who survived was angry that the death toll was so low, 500 people, when it was many times that number. My grandmother collected newspaper articles that disputed the death toll and many other lies that city officials told. My grandparents told of people being driven out of their homes at bayonet point when the fire was still a long way away and told they could take nothing of their possessions with them. Every survivor told tales of the military and national guard breaking into bars and liquor stores, then shooting anyone they thought might be looting. What surprised and delighted me about this book was not just the fact that the writer corrected the falsehoods, but that he took the time to tell us what life was like in one of the most beautiful and colorful cities America has ever seen. This was like a journey through my family history. He told how everyone, even the poorest, dressed well whenever they were in public. I could hear the cable cars clanging up and down the hills, the horses hooves clomping on the streets, see into the alleys of Chinatown where they were still selling poor little girls like cattle. I loved his descriptions of the mansions on Nob Hill and the dregs of the Barbary Coast, and my grandmother, were she still alive, would have relished the Caruso sections, as she had tickets to attend one of the perfromances, one that she saved up for for weeks but missed because the opera house was burned down. I think anyone would love this book, whether or not they have ever been to San Francisco. I have asked myself for many years why somone has not told this story. I am from the generation that was rasied on books, not television. This is one I am going to treasure. I heard the author speak and saw a documentary film he presented at a library last week. He is as passionate and knowledgeable about the subject in person. The images of the city and the disaster brought back a flood of emotions, as did the book. I just thought it was all wonderful.

A Brilliant Portrayal of a Horrific Disaster

This splendid book about a spectacular calamity is one of the most invigorating "reads" I've encountered in years. James Dalessandro mixes the ugly hard facts about San Francisco's brutal political corruption of the early 1900s with some savvy and hardbitten fiction that serves to personalize and enhance this tale of a disaster that few of us know enough about. The author's smooth blend of reality and dramatic license will both thrill and repel you-- and apparently that's precisely what the author intended. And astonishingly, smack-dab in the middle of this frightening tale, Dalessandro offers up a loving, tender portrait of Enrico Caruso, the brilliant Italian tenor who visits San Francsico for a performance just before the quake. This Caruso is a sweet, cheerful, down-to-earth Neapolitan who just might have been the world's most famous person at that time. In Dalessandro's depiction, you can't help falling in love with the man. But the Caruso sidebar is just one of many delightful aspects of "1906" that'll have you mesmerized as you peruse this sensational treat of a book. Stand by for the sequel; it's already in Dalessandro's sights.

SENSATIONAL

I live in the midwest and travel to San Francisco on business periodically, where I discovered James Dalessandro's first novel, Bohemian Heart several years ago. It was one of the most intelligent, original, page-turning mysteries I had ever read. I bought a copy of 1906 on Union Square last week and read it on the airplane home, and was the last one off the airplane because I did not want to close the book. He outdid himself this time, something I did not expect. This is much more than a story about the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, though the long section on the earthquake, the chaos and heroism and human disaster is riveting. This is a poem to the city of San Francisco that was wiped off the earth: it is a romance, a cry of outrage, a political tome, a journey through what must have been the most fascinating and complex city in America at the turn of the century. What I loved about both of his novels was how lean and taut they are, how he never overwrites and never seems to waste words, and yet 1906 is filled with colorful details, complex plots and subplots, and some of the most fascinating and orginal characters in fiction. I laughed out loud, re-read several chapters as soon as I was done with them, and must have cried three or four times while reading the book, especially at the end. My best friend is now reading it and we are already arguing over who our favorite character is, what the best lines are, and what is the most shocking revelations about the disaster. I just hope Mr. Dalessandro does not wait ten years to write another San Francisco story. It is the best book I have read in a very long time.