Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas is the type of book one picks up in a museum gift shop and buys not for themselves, necessarily, but for a roommate or partner so it can live on a shared shelf or table. Author Rebecca Solnit has assembled an amazing team or cartographers, designers, writers, and research for a soft cover look at local history and geography. Its variety is fantastically browsable: between glances at the Mission (“North of Home, South of Safe”) and film hot spots, there’s a Where’s Waldo-esque look at the origins of the chemicals and cheeses that go into San Franciscans’ bodies. The part atlas, part urban policy tome is visually arresting–so much so that it’s even worth buying a copy for no one but yourself.
