"'We looked at him and immediately saw our own reflection: someone who lives with roommates, rides a bike to work... reads poetry, goes to gallery openings, and looks somewhat out of place in a business suit.' Could that guy become the mayor of San Francisco? Well, no. But Matt Gonzalez came seriously close. to understand why, pick up City Lights' The Political Edge, engaged and engaging essays edited by Critical Mass cofounder Chris Carlsson. The book gets at what makes this place tick at its grassiest roots." – Jon Kiefer, San Francisco Magazine

"On a rainy Tuesday in December, a sleeping giant stirred in San Francisco. The Political Edge is a must read for anyone energized by the grassroots campaign to elect Matt Gonzalez for mayor. Full of progressive hope, The Political Edge paints a picture of a city that can be radically better." – Chris Daly, San Francisco Supervisor, District 6

"The Political Edge... uses the unique organizing strategy and palpable energy of the Gonzalez campaign as a jumping off point for a study of alt-politics and the potential for real change in San Francisco." –BeyondChron.org

“An unexpected gem of a book. The two-dozen essays are uniformly excellent . . . brittle, bristling and brilliant writing. These are mostly young voices, fleeing to San Francisco along with a hundred Armies of the Night . . . that keep the city still crazy after all these years.” — Richard Walker, author of The Conquest of Bread, and professor of geography, UC Berkeley.

“The spirit of democracy is alive and well, and thrives in the people of San Francisco as they fight the expropriators who have run their city for a century and a half . . . Chris Carlsson has put together a vibrant snapshot of that spirit.” — Chris Clark, editor of Faultline

Contributors include D.S. Black, Iain Boal, Steven Bodzin, Chris Carlsson, Mona Caron, Hugh d’Andrade, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Bianca Henry, Keith Hennessy, Erick Lyle, Quintin Mecke, Alejandro Murguía, Annalee Newitz, Joel Pomerantz, Rick Prelinger, Michael Rauner, David Rosen, Marlena Sonn, Alli Starr, Ahimsa Porter Sumchai, Mattilda aka Matt Bernstein Sycamore, Michelle Tea, James Tracy, Michael Med-O Whitson, & Josh Wilson.

Chris Carlsson is an urban historian, political activist, and an editor of Processed World, Reclaiming San Francisco, Bad Attitude, and Critical Mass: Bicycling’s Defiant Celebration.