Stuart Schuffman describes his 350-page book as part cultural repository, part memoir
After 20 years of celebrating San Francisco’s beauty, quirks and charms, the man famously known as “ Broke-Ass Stuart ” has taken his most memorable tales and turned them into “The Worst of Broke-Ass Stuart : 20 Years of Love, Death & Dive Bars,” a 350-page book releasing Tuesday that Schuffman describes as equal parts memoir and cultural repository San Francisco is getting in on the action, as the Board of Supervisors will declare Oct.
17 “Broke-Ass Stuart Day,” the same day Schuffman is hosting a launch party at Kilowatt featuring entertainers and live music. The Examiner spoke with Schuffman about his book, which documents moments such as his time as a television host, his 2015 mayoral candidacy and nights spent at cherished dive bars. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Did you ever think creating a book was going to be in the cards for you? If I knew when I was 24 that I'd still be doing this at 45, I might have chosen a different name than Broke-Ass Stuart. It could be a little limiting sometimes, but at least it's catchy. Everything I've done, from the zines to the books to the TV show, it's just been one foot in front of the other. There's never been a grand five- or 10-year plan. Things just kind of happened. What was it like creating something that could provide a glimpse of your life in The City at certain points? So much of my work is so deeply intertwined in San Francisco. You'll read it, and you'll see the peaks and valleys of my relationship with this place. The early stuff, I’m just enamored — in love with this f---ing place. It was just incredible. In the 2000s, it was full of weirdos and artists. Most people could work in a cafe a few days a week and then spend the rest of time making cool, creative s---. You see that love affair, and then you see the early 2010s happen when tech just blows up again, and people are getting evicted, and friends and loved ones are having to flee and all this stuff. You just see a disenchantment with The City, and then you see it come back around as things grow and continue. My story is intertwined with the story of San Francisco over the past 20 years, and you can't extricate them from each other. It’s complementary in a way. Ex // Top Stories Fillmore investment plan announced after cuts to similar effort in Tenderloin Mayor Daniel Lurie and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood announced the new process just months after an ongoing plan in the Tenderloin was shorted $4 million in the city budget New book chronicles ‘Dr. Color’ and the SF homes he helped make iconic Over a decadeslong career, Bob Buckter estimates he has designed paint schemes for thousands of San Francisco Victorians Outer Sunset’s laid-back bar scene has something for everyone The westside neighborhood brims with everything from craft cocktails to beer-and-shot specials When picking which stories to include, how did it feel revisiting your past? It took ages because I had to go through everything I’ve ever written, pretty much — thousands of pieces — and then put together something. It was interesting, though, because there's some pieces where I went back and read them and I was like, “Holy f---, this is really good. I don't remember this being this good.” There's other pieces I thought were great. I was like,“Oh, this is garbage. I can't believe I thought this was great.” It's interesting how the work you do ages and matures differently. Some of it ends up being better than you expected and some of it ends up being far, far worse. How is the book’s launch party at Kilowatt a full-circle moment? It couldn't be more perfect. I've been going to Kilowatt a lot since I was 23 years old. They’ve been revitalized — new ownership. They’ve got live music there. They really redid the space. It’s beautiful and perfect. It’s right by BART. It checked all the boxes. What’s it like to continue putting people on the amazing and cool stuff this city has to offer? That’s what I do, as I’ve been doing for 20-some odd years — helping people find the best of what San Francisco has to offer. I’m proud to do it because this is such an incredible city. It can be daunting to people sometimes, because it’s so dense and so thick with things going on. You have these ups and downs where sometimes it feels like all the magic is being pushed out, and then something else happens, and boom, it's magical. Is there something you learned about yourself through making this book? It’s a trip. When I started doing this as a zine, it was cheap places to eat and drink and go see in San Francisco. I never thought that it would lead to a career that’s been all this stuff. It’s been fun, in a way, remembering who I was at the different stages the different pieces were written, because I’ve changed a lot immensely. It’s kind of like a trip down memory lane. One thing it has reminded me is that I need to do more writing. Was there a memorable moment or an experience that stuck with you? To go back and get in touch with people that I haven't been in touch with, sometimes over a decade. There’s art and there’s illustrations and stuff all throughout the book from different parts of my life. It’s cool to reconnect with these people who I’ve made great things with before and have them be stoked on the continuation of that relationship. What excites you about where things are headed for you and The City? Hopefully more cool projects will come from this that I can continue to collaborate with people on and do cool s---. That’s all I want to do in life, is just continue making cool s--- and making the world just a little bit better through the creative process. What do you hope people take away from these 350 pages? The dedication says, “For anyone who has ever lived an unconventional life or dreamed of doing so.” I hope that’s what people can take from it, is that there’s beauty in that. There’s virtue and meaning in that. Hopefully they want to continue to support my role in doing that.
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