The Book, Deep Oakland
This is a page about my book, published by Heyday Books on 2 May 2023, titled Deep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City. I first announced it in this 2021 post, but here’s where I’ll keep y’all updated, with the latest bulletin on top.
2 June 2023: Deep Oakland was officially released one month ago, and it’s been an intense, gratifying period. Last night was the last of my currently scheduled bookstore appearances, and the post-publication “book project,” as I think of it, is shifting to talks, walks and commentary. For the record, here’s what I’ve done that’s online.
- 11 May, PlanetGeocast podcast
- 17 May, KPFA Upfront program interview
- 17 May, East Bay Yesterday podcast
- 26 May, article in The Oaklandside
In addition, I started leading a monthly walk around Lake Merritt focusing on its geology; the next one is coming up Saturday afternoon 10 June. Do subscribe to my newsletter, “Deeper Oakland,” for advance announcements of similar events, for instance a downtown walk.
27 April 2023: I have placed seven copies of Deep Oakland in Little Free Libraries as widely in Oakland as I can manage. If you find one in your neighborhood and enjoy reading it, feel free to leave a review as a comment to this page. That goes for anyone else, too.
Older bits from this page are archived here.
For reading convenience, here’s the list of my posts describing the book, table-of-contents style:
Deep Oakland: The title
Chapter 1: The Hayward Fault
Chapter 2: Lake Merritt
Chapter 3: Downtown
Chapter 4: Mountain View Cemetery
Chapter 5: The Piedmont Block
Chapter 6: The Fan, or the Second Level
Chapter 7: Indian Gulch
Chapter 8: The Bay Shore and Flats
Chapter 9: Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve
Chapter 10: Leona Heights and the Southern Oakland Hills
Chapter 11: The Ridgeline
Oakland Geology 
3 June 2023 at 11:45 am
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and will revisit it often in the future, as it’s almost a handbook for many of my favorite hiking spots. It brings a wonderful perspective to this area we call home.
13 May 2023 at 2:01 pm
I am only about 5 chapters into your book but just want to complement you on achieving an incredible blend of historical narrative, scientific explanation and philosophy on the human condition. California’s civilization has such an intimate relationship to its geology that this subject could warrant a similar book for any of its major cities, and yet this is the first book I have come across that goes into such a detailed account of what has fascinated me since moving to San Francisco: that the native landscape, though almost unrecognizable after its development, can still tell detailed stories from its topography, bedrock composition, alluvial/tidal deposits, evidence of human resource extraction, etc which have shaped the present and will continue to inform its future. It is an intricate tapestry you have woven. I hope this book encourages many others to learn about the deep and living histories in their environments- it has for me!
1 May 2023 at 8:51 am
Pre-ordered my copy through Coastside Books, the local independent bookstore in Half Moon Bay. I’ve enjoyed your periodic posts on FB. Thanks for pulling it all together in book form, and thanks to Heyday for publishing it.
Ps I love that you are leaving copies in little libraries. That’s pretty classy.
-Chris