Books Jan 27, 2016 at 4:00 am

These 12 Books Will Bring You Up to Speed on the City's Many Histories

Comments

1
YOU GUYS! Sons of the Profits is no joke pretty great. Put that on here, i know it's played out but still.
2
"Too High and Too Steep" by David Williams, about the enormous changes made to the local Seattle landscapes, a la hill regrades, tide flat filling, salmon bay and montlake cuts, re-plumbing lake washington, wharf building, etc etc...
3
Hunting Mr Heartbreak -Jonathan Raban

The Good Rain - Timothy Egan
4
I can't believe you didn't include The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era by Quintard Taylor. It's a must-read alongside Gay Seattle. Everyone in Seattle should know who William Grose was.
5
No No Boy by John Okada is an essential Seattle book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-No_Boy
6
Also (not as big as a miss as No No Boy- c'mon) Sketchbook about the painters of Seattle by William Cummings and the great (weirdly great) Social Trends in Seattle by Calvin Schmidt- the pdf of which can be found online.
Give Skid Road a glance if you ever wonder who the hell the kook meyers were who made up this area 100 years ago.
7
And I have not read it, but it seems that The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule should be on this list. There was a good graphic novel about the Green River killer a few years back. Dark murder is as much a part of this place as the Space Needle.
8
Absolutely agree with Ignatz Mouse - No No Boy by John Okada is by far my favorite local read.
9
Oh and goddamn it- Indian Killer" by Sheman Alexie.
10
Wow. I was SUPER excited for this article and was disappointed in most of the recomendations. Norweigan Seattle? Really? Sooo many books weren't listed! The Good Rain. The Gang of Four: Four Leaders, Four Communities, One Friendship. America is in the Heart. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I could go on. And if we're gonna go down the road of books about local murders then how is Ann Rule not on here but conveniently Eli Sanders new book is? I love reading The Stranger, but missed the mark this time.

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