Reviews for Mark Twain's San Francisco

The average rating for Mark Twain's San Francisco based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-07-06 00:00:00 Andrea Cantrell 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.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-06-05 00:00:00 Joshua Tate 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.