In the summer of 1934, a strange silence descended on San Francisco. Streetcars disappeared. Gas stations closed. Theater marquees turned off. Stores and restaurants locked their doors. Butcher shops ran out of meat. The wealthy decamped to summer homes. It was as if the city had died. In his debut novel Frisco, Daniel Bacon describes the forces at play that led to this extraordinary state of affairs. We see it through the eyes Nick Benson and Clarisa McMahon, a young couple whose relationship is torn apart when financial hardship forces them to take separate paths. The former lovers must...