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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.
