Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love (2012)

Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love is a history book by author David Talbot. The book describes the history of San Francisco from the 1960s to the early 1980s utilizing a “kaleidoscopic narrative” and tells the story of how "the 1967 Summer of Love gave way to 20 or so winters of discontent."

Contexts

Season of the Witch is broken down into three sections, each one depicting a different period within the city.

Enchantment

The story starts off with what San Francisco is best known for within its history: hippie kids and their drugs that lead to the birthplace of many social movements and the rise of the Counter Culture.

Terror

This part includes Hells Angels running amok at the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont but saving one of the few free clinics. The Zodiac and Zebra killers. And the hate-fueled political killing of George Moscone and Harvey Milk, followed by the ascendance of Dianne Feinstein to the mayoralty.

Deliverance

The book concludes with the riots that followed and the AIDS epidemic that was just heating up.

Appendix: The Best Songs Recorded by San Francisco Bands, 1965-1985

Talbot concludes the book with what he considers to be the best and most influential songs recorded during 1965–1985. Songs by San Francisco natives like The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane are included in this list.

One City One Book

The San Francisco Public Library selected Season of the Witch as their One City One Book 2015 selection.

Published

Season of the Witch was published by Free Press (NYC) on May 8, 2012.

Reviews

Season of the Witch received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and was hailed as "enthralling, news-driven history" (San Francisco Chronicle), "energetic, highly entertaining storytelling" (Boston Globe), and "an enthralling – and harrowing – account of how the 1967 Summer of Love gave way to 20 or so winters of discontent" (Washington Post).