One City One Book

Alive in Necropolis by Doug Dorst is this year’s One City One Book selection. The San Francisco Chronicle described the novel as “not quite a horror story, nor exactly a mystery, nor just a hard-boiled police procedural, but an adult coming-of-age saga that pulls with energy and imagination from these various genres.”

The story is set in Colma, California, the only incorporated city in America where the dead outnumber the living. Many of those dead were originally buried in San Francisco cemeteries and were relocated to Colma in the early part of the twentieth century to make room for urban redevelopment. Among those were famous Bay Area historical figures such as Lillie Coit and aviation pioneer Lincoln Beachey, whose ghosts may or may not be resting in peace despite the best efforts of the book’s protagonist, rookie cop Michael Mercer.

Paperback versions of Alive in Necropolis are available at all SFPL locations. Read it now so you’re ready for all the One City One Book programs, including book discussions, author events, films, local history talks and more coming up in September and October. And if you find yourself even more curious about San Francisco cemeteries and their relocation to Colma, or you want to know more about famous Bay Area residents, come up and visit us on the sixth floor where you can peruse books, vertical files and even early San Francisco death records!

Photo: [Workmen digging up graves in Odd Fellows Cemetery.] September 28, 1931. Courtesy of The San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.