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Fool's Paradise
A Carey McWilliams Reader

Introduction by Gray Brechin
Preface by Wilson Carey McWilliams
Trade paper, ISBN: 1-890771-41-4, $18.95

A California Legacy book

"It suddenly occurred to me that, in all the world, there neither was nor would ever be another place like this City of the Angels. Here the American people were erupting, like lava from a volcano; here, indeed, was the place for me: a ringside seat at the circus."—Carey McWilliams, in Southern California Country

Carey McWilliams (1905-1980)—lawyer, activist, historian, editor of The Nation for two decades—wrote the history of California as no one else could, or would. Alternately scathing, amusing, and disturbing, his sharp and literate accounts shatter the myths meant to obscure the real workings of the state, revealing always the relationship between the exploited and those who would exploit them.

Readers will find that McWilliams's writing on history and the issues of his day is still relevant—in fact, it is the basis for the field that we now call California studies. His painstakingly researched accounts on topics ranging from racism to the intricacies of commerce, from farm labor to the cults of California, have opened the door for generations of writers and thinkers and continue to amuse, energize, inspire, and inform us.

Reviews:

"McWilliams was one of the most politically aware and influential writers of his day, exposing the plight of the California migrant farmworker, speaking out against the interning of Japanese-Americans during WWII, and condemning the McCarthy witch-hunts of the Cold War period."—Rutgers Focus (magazine)

"If there was a march, [McWilliams] marched; a committee or panel, he served; a pamphlet to be written, he wrote; a witness needed, he testified."—John Gregory Dunne

"If John Steinbeck was a novelist seeking documentation, Carey McWilliams was a documentary journalist seeking the moral and imaginative intensity of art."—Kevin Starr

"More than a half-century ago, the late Carey McWilliams described the rough going that awaited those who would attempt to interpret his adopted state: "The analyst of California is like a navigator who is trying to chart a course in a storm: The instruments will not work; the landmarks are lost; and the maps make little sense." Whatever the issue of the moment in California—be it cult lunacy, water politics or the racial divide—it is always helpful to revisit McWilliams' interpretive histories, "California: The Great Exception" and "Southern California Country: An Island on the Land." Along with his landmark "Factories in the Field," these books nailed the essence of California in a way that has never been duplicated. To a remarkable degree, they remain as relevant today as when he wrote them."—Peter H. King, The Los Angeles Times

Th San Francisco Chronicle

There's an epic history waiting to be written of the rivalrous one-upmanship between Northern and Southern California over the past century and a half. Everything from state water policy to the construction of parking garages beneath Union and Pershing squares begs to be viewed in the light of this persistent civic competition. To write a history of either San Francisco or Los Angeles, but not both, is tantamount to writing a history of either the Franco or the Prussian war. More...

Table of Contents

Mecca of the Miraculous

The Growth of a Legend
Mecca of the Miraculous
Sister Aimee
"God Will Slap You Cockeyed"
The Folklore of Earthquakes
The Politics of Utopia

The Politics of Exclusion

The Lynching of Juanita
The Long-Suffering Chinese
The Joads at Home
Exodus from the West Coast
Storm Signals

The Abuse of Power

Water! Water! Water!
The Wheatland Riot
The Pattern of Violence
Blood on the Pavements

The Practice of Politics

Strange Doings in California
The Education of Evans Carlson
Mr. Tenney's Horrible Awakening
Bungling in California
The Old Fresno Magic
The Kennedys Take Over
Has Success Spoiled Dick Nixon?
The Politics of Personality
Mr. Nixon and the Press
How to Succeed with the Backlash
Paradise Reagan-ed

Author Biographies

Geographer and environmental historian Gray Brechin is the author of several books, including Farewell Promised Land: Waking from the California Dream (with Robert Dawson) and the recent Imperial San Francisco.

Wilson Carey McWilliams, whose foreword includes commentary on his father’s life and politics, has been professor of political science at Rutgers University since 1970. His books include The Idea of Fraternity in America; The Politics of Disappointment: American Elections, 1976-94; and Beyond the Politics of Disappointment?: American Elections, 1980-1998.