Cafes on Clement St.

There are people like me who like to eat in places like the place pictured--Hamburger Haven on Clement Street in San Francisco, whose name belies its cuisine, featuring a much more diversified menu than the name suggests though all in the line of the American diner and all from the American kitchen.

Clement is lined with restaurants in which one can eat alone and read a book while eating, particularly on the stretch between Arguello and 10th. A good book could be written by a writer determined to eat in every restaurant on Clement and write about it, and a great book might be written by a great writer.

Some rules: 1) a full meal should cost somewhere between $5 and $8, but expect to pay more at a place like Burma Super-Star or Chapeau, which are not recommended if you want to eat and read at the same time; 2) avoid eye contact with the waiter and waitress (many Chinese 'restaurants' offer food straight from the steam dish, in which case conversation is necessarily kept at a minimum that both parties--seller and buyer--appreciate) 3) drink water, as it's free and the coffee isn't and 4) bring a book or newspaper to read while eating.

Edward Hopper's big bio by Gail Levin is a good choice. You'll read that Hopper went to Paris in 1906 at the age of 24, after studying in NYC with Robert Henri.

As you read you might make a connection with the experience of artist Ed Ruscha, who made a similar pilgrimmage to Europe in the 1950's, and link Hopper and Ruscha as two  American artists who deal with the subject of personal and impersonal space, the subdued pleasures of being alone in each of these spaces and seeing things as only you can see them.