Books set in Oakland, California?

Hi there -- I'm working on a project for our branch of the Oakland Public Library, and I'm wondering if people can recommend some fiction books set in Oakland, or non-fiction books with particularly good descriptions of Oakland, like Ishmael Reed's "Blues City." I've Googled a bit but I'm not coming up with much. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Have you tried looking at Common Knowledge for books set in Oakland? The field to look at is "Important Places."

Wasn't A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius set in Oakland or nearby? It's a true story but really well written. I'd have to verify the location.

Thanks for the tip on Common Knowledge! I got a list of books from CK to explore.

Another source - I just discovered a (dormant) group called Oakland! and their first topic (of 2) discusses a lot of books set in Oakland.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/201#

"Mistress of Spices" by Chitra Divacaruni