The Murders That Made Us, Bob Calhoun
The Murders That Made Us, Bob Calhoun
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Murders That Made Us
How Vigilantes, Hoodlums, Mob Bosses, Serial Killers and Cult Leaders Built the San Francisco Bay Area

Author: Bob Calhoun

Narrator: Keith Sellon-Wright

Unabridged: 10 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/04/2021


Synopsis

The 170-year history of the San Francisco Bay Area told through its crimes and how they intertwine with the city's art, music, and politics.

In The Murders That Made Us, the story of the San Francisco Bay Area unfolds through its most violent and depraved acts. From the city's earliest days, where vigilantes hung perps from buildings and newspaper publishers shot it out on Market Street, to the kidnapping of Patty Hearst and the Zodiac Killer, crime has made the people of San Francisco who they are. Murder and mayhem are intertwined with the city's art, music, and politics. The Great 1906 Earthquake that burned down the old Barbary Coast shook a city that was already teetering on the brink of a massive prostitution scandal. The Summer of Love ended with a pair of ghastly acid dealer slayings that made the Haight too violent for even Charles Manson. The 70s ground to a halt with San Francisco pastor Jim Jones forcing his followers to drink cyanide-laced punch in Guyana, and the assassination of gay icon Harvey Milk. With each tale of true crime, The Murders That Made Us will take you from the violence that began in the original Gold Rush into the brutal displacement of today's techie ruination.

About Bob Calhoun

Bob Calhoun is a San Francisco Bay Area author, journalist, and former wrestler and peepshow emcee. Since 2015, he has recounted his city's most gruesome and lurid events in his regular SF Weekly column, Yesterday's Crimes. His punk wrestling memoir, Beer, Blood & Cornmeal, was a national bestseller.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Alvin

Calhoun's wry, slightly perverse wit applied to SF's truly spectacular history of homicides has produced an extremely diverting book. A few of the murders detailed lack significance and could have been omitted, but most of them came mixed with dollops of socio-political and urban history. You can't......more

Goodreads review by Loren

I don't read true crime books, but I loved reading Bob Calhoun's column about the historical crimes in San Francisco. All that is my way of saying: I came for the history but stayed for the true crime. In fact, I was disappointed that he didn't write about the Howth Street murders in my neighborhood......more

Goodreads review by carla

Oh man. The last chapter, especially the last few pages got me. But let’s talk about this book. It goes back to the early days of San Francisco and covers murders that occurred, puts a contextual spin on them, and still manages to add a modern sensibility. I learned so much history - especially in t......more

Goodreads review by Daniel

I found "The Murders That Made Us: How Vigilantes, Hoodlums, Mob Bosses, Serial Killers, and Cult Leaders Built the San Francisco Bay Area" to be an intriguing exploration of the darker side of San Francisco's history. Bob Calhoun's narrative skillfully weaves together tales of notorious figures and......more

Goodreads review by Sydney

I’ve visited San Francisco once and absolutely loved it, so it was fascinating to read about all the years of history. Each chapter is short but packed full with multiple cases in a roughly chronological order (aside from the very beginning). I liked that this book discussed some of the lesser known......more