 Everyone should read Tales of the City. Why? To paraphrase author Armistead Malpin, the saga involves a time in San Francisco City history when its people were becoming rapidly aware of life's infinite possibilities. I think those who read Tales of the City will get a sense of San Francisco at a very heady and exciting time, a time when people were just getting over their sentiment for 1967 and beginning to look ahead. The other thing that sticks in my mind is, my God, you could get a one bedroom apartment for less than $500 a month.