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920 O'Farrell Street
This is a new release of the original 1947 edition.
284 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
About the author
Harriet Lane Levy
4 booksHarriet Lane Levy was a California writer best known for her memoir, 920 O’Farrell Street. Levy was also an avid art collector, a childhood friend of Alice B. Toklas, and an acquaintance of Gertrude Stein.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 14, 2012
Rating: a yawning, heavy-lidded 3* of five (for historical interest only, and the fact that I remember O'Farrell Street as the service entrance to the Cadillac dealer where we got our cars fixed when I was little)
You know why I picked this book up? The address. San Francisco isn't on my life-list of places to love, but it's very interesting. And, I found out after reading this dull, dull, dull book that Levy knew Alice B. Toklas! Even lived with her in Paris.
Hmmm...never married, knew lesbians...hmmm
None of that makes her in the least bit interesting, I fear. Her childhood in 1870s San Francisco was pretty much what you'd expect. I could scarcely keep my eyes open for much of the book. Her writing style is very much of the period of her youth, and in fact the book reads like the stilted, uninformative letters home that I've read in many a Collected Letters book about figures of that age.
The book, the only one she ever published, was brought out in 1947 when she was eighty years old. Frankly, for that reason alone, I think it deserves some place in our cultural memory...she was an old, old woman by the standards of that day, and she was Jewish, and she was *ahem* unmarried, so she was a very, very different sort of a person. Good! Yes, publishers, good to bring out alternative voices!
Ye gods, I don't want to read this kind of bludgeoningly boring book ever, ever again.
You know why I picked this book up? The address. San Francisco isn't on my life-list of places to love, but it's very interesting. And, I found out after reading this dull, dull, dull book that Levy knew Alice B. Toklas! Even lived with her in Paris.
Hmmm...never married, knew lesbians...hmmm
None of that makes her in the least bit interesting, I fear. Her childhood in 1870s San Francisco was pretty much what you'd expect. I could scarcely keep my eyes open for much of the book. Her writing style is very much of the period of her youth, and in fact the book reads like the stilted, uninformative letters home that I've read in many a Collected Letters book about figures of that age.
The book, the only one she ever published, was brought out in 1947 when she was eighty years old. Frankly, for that reason alone, I think it deserves some place in our cultural memory...she was an old, old woman by the standards of that day, and she was Jewish, and she was *ahem* unmarried, so she was a very, very different sort of a person. Good! Yes, publishers, good to bring out alternative voices!
Ye gods, I don't want to read this kind of bludgeoningly boring book ever, ever again.
September 15, 2009
This book is a delight to read. It is a memoir of growing up Jewish in 1870's San Francisco. Harriet Levy's style is to grab the reader's hand and walk arm in arm down O'Farrell Street. She discribes the neighbor's, her home and the characters that inhabit the world of her childhood. Writing from 60's in the future, she is able to add satire to her discriptions of her thoughts and prejudices of society at that time. A wonderful bright book.
July 14, 2014
WONDERFUL! This will be another of my San Francisco "historical" favorites. World War 1 history and couldn't put it down until I at the last page. Well written and most is historically accurate. It's a KEEPER!
August 30, 2017
Interesting memories (published 1947) by a woman whose childhood home and family were in San Francisco in the late 1800's, early 1900's.
October 18, 2022
This is also one of my favourite books. Just a simple, thoughtful memoir. If you've ever wondered what old San Francisco was like, this is an excellent example. Thoroughly enjoyable, intimate, and relatable. *I found this book when I worked as a visual merchandiser in a fancy furniture store in Florida and we were using it, along with other old books, as props in a book shelf. It looked interesting and my boss let me have it. Good read!
February 4, 2015
Is it a literary masterwork? Nope. There are even a some rather tedious bits. And yet, when it's good (which is mostly), it's a fascinating mix of domestic anecdotes and glimpses of a young San Francisco. The closest comparison for me would be Edwords' _Bohemian San Francisco_, though some of the stories might also evoke a bit of _Life with Father_.
February 16, 2015
great snippets of life in San Francisco in mid- to late- 1800's. enjoyed here writing and use of language and wish she'd written more. would like to read her poetry and I'm not usually drawn to poetry.
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August 28, 2013It was slow at first, but her writing style drew me in. She did a good job of describing life in San Francisco in the mid-1800s.
October 6, 2019
Yes, it's history, but the way she describes her life makes me think of vanity, gossip, judging others by their wealth alone.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews