Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

The first in the Tales of the City series.  Laugh out loud funny - a delight.
 
'It's an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco.' Oscar Wilde

Mary Ann is twenty-five and arrives in San Franciscofor an eight-day holiday.   But then her Mood Ring turns blue.
So obviously she decides to stay.  It is the 1970s after all. 
 
Fresh out of Cleveland, naive Mary Ann tumbles headlong into a brave new world of pot-growing landladies, cut throat debutantes, spaced-out neighbours and outrageous parties. Finding a job as a secretary at an ad agency, Mary Ann wants to start her own life, away from her parents and with the flower-power freedom to make her own friends and her own decisions. 
 
The saga that ensues introduces vignettes that are manic, romantic, tawdry and touching - unmistakably the handiwork of Armistead Maupin.