During Mark Twain's 1860s journalism stint in San Francisco, nothing escaped his scrutiny or his acerbic wit: jumping frogs; stray dogs; high society, and the eccentric, self-proclaimed Emperor Norton. Bernard Taper has gathered together Twain's newspaper articles, correspondence, poetry, and short stories, appearing here with Edward Jump's illustrations from the era. From earthquakes, scandals, and tantalizing bonanzas to elegant ladies blowing their noses in "exquisitely modulated tones," Twain has left us a vision of San Francisco that is at once fascinating and hilariously unfamiliar.