"The Worst-Case Scenario Pocket Guide: San Francisco"

Chronicle Books, $7.95:

What is the worst thing that can possibly happen to you in San Francisco? Get caught in the middle of an earthquake, perhaps? Or, more prosaic, get lost in a thick fog? Authors David Borgenicht and Ben H. Winters have come up with their own variation on that theme. But everything here is hardly gloom and doom. On the contrary, Borgenicht and Winters have spiced their little book with a wicked dose of black humor that will have you chuckling as you ponder the unthinkable. These worst-case scenarios are uniquely San Franciscan. What would you do, for example, should you need to stop a runaway cable car? The authors suggest you run slightly ahead of the car, leap into the driver's position, grab the lever at the front of the car and pull backward on it, then operate the foot brake and pull the emergency slot brake. A more likely problem is driving in the fog or parallel parking on one of San Francisco's steep hills. For the latter, the authors suggest you set your emergency brake.