Mark Twain's San Francisco

Jumping frogs, high society, San Franciscos Emperor Norton and the stray dogs that followed on his heelsnothing escaped Mark Twains scrutiny or his acerbic wit. Bernard Taper has gathered together a heady selection of newspaper articles, correspondence, poetry, and short stories that are humoroussometimes exasperating and controversialbut always engaging. Edward Jump, a contemporary of Twains, offers through his lively illustrations a visual drum roll to Twains cantankerous prose. From earthquakes, scandals, and tantalizing bonanzas to elegant ladies blowing their noses in exquisitely modulated tones, Mark Twain has left us a vision of San Francisco that is at once fascinating and hilariously familiar.