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The City, Not Long After (1989)

by Pat Murphy

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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5052151,583 (3.88)26
Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:

The city is San Francisco. "Not long after" refers to a devastating worldwide plague that has wiped out most of the planet's population.

The people who survive in San Francisco are mostly artists, hippies, and misfits who pull together a viable community and transform the city. But when a military general determines to reunite the remnants of the once great United States and sets his sights on San Francisco, the people resist, believing they have already discovered a better way of life. The new and artistically creative guerrilla warfare they stage will make for one of the oddest battles ever fought.

.… (more)
  1. 20
    Vanishing Point by Michaela Roessner (lquilter)
    lquilter: Murphy's The City, Not Long After is another post-apocalyptic story in a Bay Area setting; both explore Bay Area culture and peculiarities, and treat the setting almost as another character.
  2. 00
    A Gift Upon the Shore by M. K. Wren (sturlington)
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» See also 26 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 21 (next | show all)
Borrowed from library - 2 weeks for 8 hours of audio... can I get it done? *fingers crossed*
----------------

welp my concern was mute because at about 15% I've decided I don't want to read it.

I think I added this book based on coming by a list of books and stories that included older female characters and as I tire of reading about "special" young people, I added it to my tbr. Or maybe it was this cover alone that got me:


We are introduced to the characters 1 at a time, meaning one per chapter. So I got a good glance at who I will be spending the 8 hours with and I'm not connecting with them or the story which seems like it will include this group defending themselves and San Francisco from an invading group in this post-apocalyptic world. Our original group are artists, who seem to see the world a bit different than most, are they affecting it or is this normal for the author's world? Idk I'm checking out before that is clear.
----------------

not a fan of the narrator ( )
  Corinne2020 | Feb 24, 2022 |
Pat Murphy is so brilliant. Seriously, everything she's ever written is a joy to read.
This one takes place in and around San Francisco after a global plague has wiped out the majority of the population. The cast of characters who remain in the city consist of "Books" who keeps up the library; "The Machine" who makes crazy robot sculptures; Danny-boy, who wants to paint the whole Golden Gate blue; and others who are mostly focused on using the remnants of what's been left behind to create art or advance knowledge. Unfortunately, there are also survivors who want to amass power and 'save society'. An unbelievably repugnant man who calls himself General Fourstar has built himself a little army, mostly leads by fear, and has decided he's going to bring the City under his dominion. The citizens get really creative in an effort to fight back. ( )
1 vote EmScape | Mar 16, 2020 |
Read for an IRL book group. A post-apocalyptic community of artists use their art to defend San Francisco (population 50) against an invading army (population 150) led by a self-styled General. Written in the late 80's but with a definite 70's sensibility,plus elements of magical realism, which worked for me 90% of the time. Most of the novel is about the post-apocalyptic life of the characters, rural and urban, and I liked it better than the final war, which strayed into YA territory. Interestingly for a book with an anti-war message, the apocalyptic plague was introduced by American peace activists who imported monkeys from a Buddhist monastery in Nepal into the US as a symbol of peace. ( )
  badube | Mar 6, 2019 |
This book has been sitting on my bookshelves for years. I can't imagine why I didn't get to it before. It's about peace and war, non-violent and violent disobedience, art, artists, political oppression, and thinking outside the box wrapped in a great story about post-apocalyptic San Francisco. Evidently, Pat Murphy really loves her city. Now I'm going to give it to my daughter. ( )
  Citizenjoyce | Apr 16, 2018 |
Reading this for our book group. Wow, my heart is broken by this book - and the reality of the city of San Francisco being no longer a mecca for artists but a hugely overpriced center for tech bros bro'ing out. I have read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction; this has similarities to (and is definitely in some sort of conversation across the years with) Earth Abides. Because the plague in the book was clearly started by monkeys, and because 1989 was nearing the peak of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. (and because HIV very, very roughly "comes from monkeys"), I think it's clear this is a response to the idea that most people would have died out, and reactions would have been varied. The book is also a response to theories of peace and war, how artists would fight, what books can do for people, etc. It's lovely and hard and intense. I loved Jax's character, and I enjoyed Ms. Migdol very much, but I felt that only Jax was truly given much depth despite several other close third-person POV chapters.

That said, I also felt that the book sets up weird differences, oppositions, between artists and farmers, between Buddhists and Christians, between San Francisco and Los Angeles (that's only hinted at, but it's there). I wonder how post-apocalyptic SF writers in SF and LA would write about those cities now. I also think @karlthefog on Twitter might have a few thoughts about his vital role in the resistance. ( )
1 vote SuziSteffen | Feb 20, 2018 |
Showing 1-5 of 21 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Pat Murphyprimary authorall editionscalculated
Bergen, DavidCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Biavasco, AnnamariaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Guani, ValentinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Harrison, MarkCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Martin, JürgenTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pareja, AlejandroTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Canonical title
Information from the Spanish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Original title
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Dedication
For Ned
Who understands Danny-boy better than I ever will
AND
For Richard
You might as well get used to it - sooner or later, they're all for you.
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First words
The early morning breeze blew through the vegetable garden in Union Square, shaking the leaves of the bean plants and the lacy carrot tops.
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Quotations
"You do it for yourself, not for anyone else. When you make something beautiful, you change. You put something of yourself into the thing you make. You're a different person when you're done."
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"I don't really like this business of wanting to restore order," he said. "I think disorder works just fine. There's a lot to be said for chaos. It's a much more creative environment."
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Information from the Spanish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
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Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:

The city is San Francisco. "Not long after" refers to a devastating worldwide plague that has wiped out most of the planet's population.

The people who survive in San Francisco are mostly artists, hippies, and misfits who pull together a viable community and transform the city. But when a military general determines to reunite the remnants of the once great United States and sets his sights on San Francisco, the people resist, believing they have already discovered a better way of life. The new and artistically creative guerrilla warfare they stage will make for one of the oddest battles ever fought.

.

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