The Booksmith is thrilled to be welcoming John King to The Booksmith for Portal on March 27th at 7pm. He'll be in-conversation with former San Francisco mayor Art Agnos. Please join us! RSVP is not required, but appreciated. Seats are limited and can be guaranteed with the purchase of a book.

See you at the shop!

About the book

“A window to the soul of a great city.” —Inga Saffron, Pulitzer Prize–winning architecture critic

A two-time Pulitzer finalist explores the story of American urban design through San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building.

Conceived in the Gilded Age, the Ferry Building opened in 1898 as San Francisco’s portal to the world—the terminus of the transcontinental railway and a showcase of civic ambition. In silent films and World’s Fair postcards, nothing said “San Francisco” more than its soaring clocktower.

But as acclaimed architectural critic John King recounts in Portal, the rise of the automobile and double-deck freeways severed the city from its beloved structure and its waterfront—a connection that required generations to restore.

King’s narrative spans the rise and fall and rebirth of the Ferry Building. Rich with feats of engineering and civic imagination, his story introduces colorful figures who fought to preserve the Ferry Building’s character (and the city’s soul)—from architect Arthur Page Brown and legendary columnist Herb Caen to poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Senator Dianne Feinstein.

In King’s hands, the saga of the Ferry Building is a microcosm of a larger evolution along the waterfronts of cities everywhere. Portal traces the damage inflicted on historic neighborhoods and working dockyards by cars, highways, and top-down planning and “urban renewal.” But when an earthquake destroyed the Embarcadero Freeway, city residents seized the chance to reclaim their connection to the bay. Transporting readers across 125 years of history, this tour de force explores the tensions impacting urban infrastructure and public spaces, among them tourism, deindustrialization, development, and globalization. Portal culminates with a rich portrait of San Francisco’s vibrant esplanade today, visited by millions, even as sea level rise and earthquakes threaten a landmark that remains as vital as ever.

A book for city lovers and visitors, architecture fans and pedestrians, Portal is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of San Francisco and the future of American cities.

About the authors

John King was the San Francisco Chronicle's long-time Urban Design Critic before retiring last year. A two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism, he received last year's Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Francisco Press Club

Art Agnos was mayor of San Francisco from 1988 until 1992, steering the city through the tumultuous aftermath of 1989's Loma Prieta Earthquake. Before that, he represented the city in the California State Assembly for 12 years.

About the bookstore

The Booksmith is an independent bookstore located in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco since 1976.