Mark Twain's San Francisco

by Bernard Taper, Bernard Taper (Editor)

Jumping frogs, high society, beloved San Francisco characters Emperor Norton and the stray dogs Bummer and Lazarus who followed on his heels―nothing escaped Mark Twain’s scrutiny or his acerbic wit. Editor Bernard Taper has gathered together a heady selection of newspaper articles, correspondence, poetry, and short stories that are humorous―sometimes exasperating and controversial―but always engaging. Like a good sidekick in a comedy duo, Edward Jump, a contemporary of Twain’s, offers through his lively illustrations a visual drum roll to Twain’s cantankerous prose. From earthquakes, police scandals, and tantalizing silver mine bonanzas to elegant ladies blowing their noses in “exquisitely modulated tones” and seals “writhing and squirming like exaggerated maggots” below the Cliff House, Mark Twain has left us a vision of San Francisco that is at once fascinating and hilariously familiar.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Humor

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[eigenvector · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each piece in this collection is over 150 years old, yet the fact that the majority of the content is still funny speaks to Mark Twain's talent. Does it mean that the content is still relevant today? Not necessarily, but I was surprised to discover that was in fact the case with 'Mark Twain's San Francisco.' Consider this from Mark Twain's piece on the treatment of a man arrested for petty theft:

Now when Ziele broke that poor wretch's skull the other night for stealing six bits' worth of flour sacks, and had him taken to the Station House by a policeman, and jammed into one of the cells in the most humorous way, do you think there was anything wrong there?

...

And why shouldn't they shove that half-senseless wounded man into a cell without getting a doctor to examine and see how badly he was hurt, and consider that next day would be time enough, if he chanced to live that long? And why shouldn't the jailor let him alone when he found him in a dead stupor two hours after--let him alone because he couldn't wake him--couldn't wake a man who was sleeping and with a clam serenity which is peculiar to men whose heads have been caved in with a club--couldn't wake such a subject, but never suspected that there was anything unusual in the circumstance?

Jan. 21, 1866 Golden Era

Or on police misconduct:

Chief Burke's Star Chamber Board of Police Commissioners is the funniest institution extant, and by the way he conducts it is the funniest theatrical exhibition in San Francisco. Now to see the Chief fly around and snatch up accuser and accused before the Commission when any policeman is charged with misconduct in the public prints, you would imagine that fearful Commission was really going to raise the very devil. But it is all humbug, display, fuss, and feathers. The Chief brings his policeman out as sinless as an angel, unless the testimony be heavy enough and strong enough, almost, to hang an ordinary culprit, in which case a penalty of four or five days' suspension is awarded.

Feb. 15, 1866 Territorial Enterprise

Remind you of Eric Garner? Freddie Gray? Or, as a local example, Alex Nieto?

Twain's writing is relevant today because the morbid banality of the human condition has yet to change.

[Frederick Gault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the dispatches are very droll, such as the review of the Opera where Mark Twain lauds the work of the guy who moves the set furniture. Other stories are hard to access because Mark Twain was just finding his voice at the time he was in San Francisco (1864-66) and the language of the 19th Century is a bit obscure. If you are from San Francisco, or just love The City, this is a must read.

[Shelley Diamond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good collection of short pieces Twain wrote while he was a newspaper reporter in San Francisco from 1863-1866. They show the development of his humor and writing style before his more famous novels.

I particularly liked the following pieces in this collection: Earthquake Almanac, Graceful Compliment (about receiving his first income tax collection notice from the IRS), Thief-Catching (about detectives on the police force), Spirit of the Local Press (about being a news reporter), The Black Hole of San Francisco (about the police court room), What Have the Police Been Doing? (about police beatings of civilians), Busted and Gone Abroad (about people who have lost all their money from the gold rush days), and Mark Twain's Farewell.

I also thought the introduction was quite good...

[Julie Mickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twain as 1860s 20-something media hipster in San Francisco. Even then the rent was high and the fog was cold. At this moment, he has just failed at several normal occupations before finally resigning himself to being a writer. He was prolific during this period, committing constant acts of journalism, and it's interesting to see how he gets better and hones his style and instincts. He's only a so-so writer at the beginning, but after a few years of constant output, he's developed the Twain voice and even, to some degree, persona. Practice, practice, practice; a writer is made of work, not talent.

By the end he has found his lifelong best and favorite subject: skewering Victorian morality and religion.

My favorite pieces in here are his reports from the Spiritualist gatherings -- mediums, seances, and so on -- described by Twain as a "wildcat religion" and which enjoyed mass popularity and earnestness at the time. In the best part of these, Twain gets his friends in the crowd to nominate him to be the onstage audience-participant and he tries to commune with the spirits ... in his own way.

[E.R. Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The very beginnings of the work of one of my favorite authors written during the 3 years he lived in one of my favorite cities. These stories written for various local newspapers are full of characters who shine a light on life in San Francisco in the 1860’s. Twain was just developing his razor sharp wit, filled with ironies and social commentary. These stories will have you laughing and give you an insiders view of the early days of one of America’s greatest cities. A city that offers everything from fine art and dining to back alleys and streets filled with ne’er do wells. Not up to his later high standards, but still worth the effort if you are a Twain fan, or curious about the early days of San Francisco.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a rule, there is too little Twain to read and too little Twain being read. This bit, though, can be safely avoided if your interest is more in entertainment than self-improvement. His trademark directness is still settling out of a more complex potion of thoughts, and flashes of wit must be interrupted by passages focused on whetting. But here is strong insight into a great writer and profoundly good human, from whose excess there is as much to learn as from his most compact phrase, unless you mean to rate it by the word.

[Grace M.]

So far so good--found this book at Adobe Book store in the Mission.