{"product_id":"frisco-fairytales-marcus-mason-9798995314103","title":"Frisco Fairytales","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet against the hills, fog, and contradictions of San Francisco, \u003cem\u003eFrisco Fairytales\u003c\/em\u003e moves\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethrough the neighborhoods and generations of a city in perpetual tension. A \"utopia\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand a hellscape, sometimes on the same block. The stories explore class and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egentrification, street-level crime and consequence, love and loyalty, and the particular\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eache of nostalgia for a city that keeps changing beneath your feet. Characters range\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efrom a young woman navigating a drug empire and a toxic ex, to a boy who believes he\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewas born on the moon; from teenagers on prom night to a meditation on the weight of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egrief. Taken together, the stories form a vivid, funny, heartbreaking portrait of what it\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emeans to grow up as a local in one of the world's most mythologized cities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title itself is a provocation. The book's preface opens with the history of the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enickname, \"Frisco\", and a reminder of the often segregated cultures within the city. The\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecollection is dedicated, in part, to the memory of the Sucka Free City itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the Preface: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis collection of short stories is about what it means to grow up in a utopia, hell\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eon earth, and the cross streets in between. While these \"fairytales\" are not meant for\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eyoung children, my hope is that a copy will land in the hands of some kids in the city\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewho can relate, reflect, and laugh at these stories. The City offers its youth many\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epaths and traps. As locals, we dance with rage through the beauty and hypocrisy. If\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eyou are not from San Francisco, it's fine; I am sure you will still understand 95% of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe concepts in this book. I have also added a glossary for all the Bay slang I put to\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003euse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore we begin, I would like to remind you, the reader, that Frisco is located on\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esacred soil. It also happened to go from being one of the cheapest major cities in the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eU.S. to one of the most expensive in the world. Regardless of time period or\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eeconomic status, this land is magical, and it is our responsibility to give it the respect\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand honor that it deserves. The way that we interact with the city demonstrates the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003erespect we pay to it. Simply owning, renting, or inheriting property here is not\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eenough to claim it or treat it as you please. The city might just slap you back. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI would also like to be clear; W\u003cem\u003ee\u003c\/em\u003e call it Frisco, but many, even locals, don't.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEveryone from the city agrees 'San Fran' is the tourist nickname, but the local\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebourgeoisie class always hated 'Frisco' more. In 1953, a journalist and author by the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ename of Herb Caen wrote a book titled \u003cem\u003eDon't Call It Frisco\u003c\/em\u003e. He argued, \"Frisco shows\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edisrespect to a city that is now big and proper and respectable.\" In other words, it\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewas the nickname of the poor. Caen grew up in Sacramento in the 1920s, and moved\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto Nob Hill for a job at the Chronicle in the late 1930s. Dude wasn't even from the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecity. In 1995, one year after I was born, and two years before he died, Caen wrote a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efinal piece for the Chronicle, again titled \"Don't Call it Frisco.\" Caen's work\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003einfluenced thousands, at least from the north side of the city, to loathe the term.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCalling the city Frisco, or not, to this day is a reflection of your relationship to the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eculture, the people, and the land. This nickname, and the controversy surrounding it, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexemplifies the themes of class, romance, and rebellion in these stories. Regardless of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe attempts to remove the city's working class nickname, it will be Frisco forever, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand we are on Ohlone land.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Marcus Mason\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798995314103\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bocana Media\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/27\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 150\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.83w x 0.32d","brand":"Marcus Mason","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49148576334079,"sku":"9798995314103","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/frisco-fairytales-marcus-mason-9798995314103","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}