{"product_id":"city-on-the-edge-technology-politics-and-the-fight-for-the-soul-of-san-francisco","title":"City on the Edge: Technology, Politics, and the Fight for the Soul of San Francisco","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"To understand the San Francisco of today, you can't do better than Jonathan Weber's chronicle of its recent decades of euphoria and disillusion. In his fast-paced narrative, Weber shrewdly navigates the city's volatile juxtaposition of transformational innovation and intractable social ills. \n\u003ci\u003eCity on the Edge\u003c\/i\u003e is a captivating story of iron-willed idealists, inventors, activists, and power players who shaped San Francisco's contentious character, altered how we all live and work, and inflamed the most fractious political debates of our time.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Marty Baron, \u003c\/b\u003e author of \n\u003ci\u003eCollision of Power\u003c\/i\u003e and former executive editor of \n\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJonathan Weber was named the \n\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e's first-ever Silicon Valley reporter in 1990. He was later editor in chief of \n\u003ci\u003eThe Industry Standard\u003c\/i\u003e, a chronicle of and bellwether for the first dot-com boom, and oversaw West Coast news and global technology coverage for Reuters. He was most recently the editor in chief of \n\u003ci\u003eThe San Francisco Standard\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"So much that happens in the nation happens in San Francisco first. Jonathan Weber tells the city's story from the rise of the internet and the behemoth powers that followed through to the national political figures the city has spawned--with, along the way, a cast of vivid and Machiavellian behind-the-scenes players. He has made it a riveting tale and turned San Francisco into an unforgettable character.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e -- \n\u003cb\u003eMichael Wolff\u003c\/b\u003e, #1 \n\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \n\u003ci\u003eFire and Fury\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Compelling, timely, and thoughtfully written.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"From the beginning of the rise of the commercial Internet to today, Jonathan Weber has been in the middle of everything San Francisco-related, including technology and politics. In this beautiful book, he interweaves the two and shows how they've played off each other, both in positive and negative ways, in a city whose history is both fantastical and entertaining.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e -- \n\u003cb\u003eBrad Feld\u003c\/b\u003e, co-founder of Foundry Group and Techstars\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Jonathan Weber tells the story of San Francisco's internet era as someone who was there and who knows everyone. He digs deep into tech, culture, and politics, revealing much that was never well known and much which has been forgotten. \n\u003ci\u003eCity on the Edge\u003c\/i\u003e offers a story that affects the world and human history.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Craig Newmark\u003c\/b\u003e, founder of \n\u003ci\u003eCraigslist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Having spent the 1990s and early 2000s at the heart of the story Jonathan Weber tells here--working at \n\u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e and \n\u003ci\u003eHotWired\u003c\/i\u003e, living in San Francisco at the peak of the dot-com boom--you can take it from me: This book is the real deal. Imbued with insider access, outsider perspective, and Weber's prodigious story-telling gifts, \n\u003ci\u003eCity on the Edge\u003c\/i\u003e is the definitive account of a monumental era in a mythical city and a world-changing industry that both lost their way.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e -- \n\u003cb\u003eJohn Heilemann\u003c\/b\u003e, #1 \n\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \n\u003ci\u003eGame Change\u003c\/i\u003e and \n\u003ci\u003eDouble Down\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Enlightening... A timely, cautionary tale about what tech cannot fix.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e--\u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A well-informed, granular account of San Francisco's history since 1990, and a portrait of how it has served as a microcosm of some of the fundamental changes occurring in U.S. society during that time... With all its triumphs and travails, it is impossible to leave this account without a strong sense that what Weber calls the 'boom-and-bust cycles' of San Francisco life are destined to repeat yet again.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A welcome history of Bay Area Big Tech.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe definitive and \"captivating\" (\u003cb\u003eMarty Baron, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e author of \u003ci\u003eCollision of Power\u003c\/i\u003e) story of San Francisco's meteoric transformation into a global capital of technology, and how the same creative and political forces that gave rise to its boom nearly engineered its collapse.\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt the dawn of the 1990s, San Francisco was a beautiful if troubled mid-sized metropolis. It was still reeling from the AIDS epidemic and the Lome Prieta earthquake, its economy stuck in a post-industrial slump. Once considered to be the capital of the American West, and later the beating heart of the global counterculture, the mythic, fog-shrouded city at the edge of the continent faced an uncertain future. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But in that very moment, a band of free-thinking technologists, immersed in the creative zeitgeist of the city, were inventing the contemporary internet. San Francisco would undergo an epic political, social, and economic transformation as it claimed the title of tech capital of the world. Local politicians, including Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris, advanced to the national stage. An unlikely marriage of underground culture and technological optimism gave rise to the annual reverie known as Burning Man. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This should have been a happy story for San Francisco. But as the city's tech economy roared, a host of urban ills lurked in the shadows: homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness, and a crippling lack of new housing. The city's famous left-wing political establishment struggled to get its arms around the problems, becoming a punching bag for President Trump and the new right. When the pandemic arrived in 2020, it created new crises and laid old ones bare, shattering a \"City Family\" that had ruled politically for more than thirty years and prompting a sharp rightward turn by the once-liberal tech industry. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Jonathan Weber saw it all up close as a reporter and newsroom leader. He offers a sweeping history of a city that rose to dizzying heights, only to be undone by the heedlessness of a tech industry it did so much to spawn and politicians who had lost the plot. Drawing on 200 interviews with mayors, CEOs, political leaders, activists, entrepreneurs, and artists, \n\u003ci\u003eCity on the Edge\u003c\/i\u003e is more than a simple chronicle of a city. It's the story of a war waged for the heart of San Francisco--one that anticipated the culture wars raging around the world. Its outcome would have an impact far beyond the city's famed Golden Gates.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/06\/2026 (EAN 9781668074916, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/span\u003e 12\/30\/0001 (EAN 9781668074916, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/15\/2026 (EAN 9781668074916, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781668074916, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eWeber, Jonathan\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJonathan Weber was named the \n\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e's first-ever Silicon Valley reporter in 1990. He was later editor in chief of \n\u003ci\u003eThe Industry Standard\u003c\/i\u003e, a chronicle of and bellwether for the first dot-com boom, and oversaw West Coast news and global technology coverage for Reuters. He was most recently the editor in chief of \n\u003ci\u003eThe San Francisco Standard\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Atria Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496183300374,"sku":"9781668074916","price":38.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781668074916.jpg?v=1783056915","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/city-on-the-edge-technology-politics-and-the-fight-for-the-soul-of-san-francisco","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}