The Mysteries and Miseries of San Francisco by an anonymous Californian opens with a bunch of Americans drinking at a diner together in the historical town. The anonymous author pays careful and boisterous homage to the strange and bustling city. Excerpt: "San Francisco, on the marge of the sea, with towering hills behind her, lay basking in the sun like a serpent by the side of a rock. The dwellings of the more fortunate classes loomed pleasantly on the side of the large round hills in the distance, and might with the aid of a little fancy…"