Willie Brown, former Mayor of San Francisco and long-time leader of the California legislature, is a colorful figure. His memoir, Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times isn’t going to supersede Machiavelli but is a breezy account of a career in politics like no one else’s. Brown comes from a poor Texas town. “I didn’t live in a log cabin, I lived under a log cabin.” Relatives help Brown move to San Francisco and encourage him to get an education. Brown thrives in an academic environment and ends up going to law school. Almost through chance, he gets involved in politics and the rest is history. There are plenty of political lessons to be learned from Brown: don’t lie, reward your friends (but not too much), punish your enemies (but not too much), build coalitions, don’t get greedy, stay true to your beliefs, and have fun. I had fun reading about Brown’s life. You will, too. GRADE: B+.