hollow monkeys

Hollow City provides an illuminating account of modern day San Francisco's gentrification process and how it directly effects the artistry and multiculturalism of the city. Solnit debunks the popular misconception that San Francisco is nothing more than a "far out city on the left side of the world." She argues that this San Francisco is merely an idea that isn't completely based in reality. Immigrants, transients, and artists originally came to San Francisco because of its romantic promises: there was a place for everyone to live and to flourish financially, artistically, and culturally. However, this idea of a near utopia quickly vanished with the introduction of Silicon Valley and the dot-com boom. Suddenly, affordable housing no longer existed; specifically, artists became displaced and thus creatively inhibited. Solnit claims that artistic genius only thrives in places where the artist can live an impoverished, difficult life. The gentrification of these former artist neighborhoods and workspaces, however, proved to make that lifestyle impossible. Furthermore, gentrification essentially bleached out formerly culturally diverse neighborhoods. For example, the Latin American community in the Mission was forced to pack up and leave when buildings were bought up to build trendy bars and nightclubs aimed at the upper middle class, white demographic. San Francisco, then, does not represent a haven for people otherwise displaced. It instead is a reminder that industrial and technological evolutions only benefit a small fraction of society.

Wittman Ah-Singh is an example of Solnit's theory on displaced people. In Tripmaster Monkey, Wittman struggles to define himself as a Chinese-American in a city that is both stereotypically Chinese and stereotypically American. He attempts to negotiate his space in the city by retaining his artistic integrity as a poet. However, Wittman has trouble communicating with others, as seen when Nanci doesn't appreciate his poetry reading in chapter 1. These sorts of struggles are what prevent him from negotiating his space. His plights show that there is a lack of space in the city for people like him.