Amazon.com
California seems to have been the source of almost every cultural trend that defines modern America--often in contradictory ways. Consider the waves of conservative and progressive politics, self-love and selflessness, sushi and Big Macs, great literature, and banal films. Inventing the Dream traces this extraordinary state through the early years of the 20th century, when Americans began to flock westward and Los Angeles grew from a town of 50,000 to a large city of 320,000 in justa couple of decades. By 1926, Starr writes, Hollywood was the United States' fifth-largest industry, grossing $1.5 billion a year and accounting for 90 percent of the world's films--and, of course, changing the values of whole cultures. This is a fine work of historical reconstruction, joining Starr's other well-regarded works of Californiana.
Book Description
This second volume in Kevin Starr's passionate and ambitious cultural history of the Golden State focuses on the turn-of-the-century years and the emergence of Southern California as a regional culture in its own right. "How hauntingly beautiful, how replete with lost possibilities, seems that Southern California of two and three generations ago, now that a dramatically diferent society has emerged in its place," writes Starr. As he recreates the "lost California," Starr examines the rich variety of elements that figured in the growth of the Southern California way of life: the Spanish/Mexican roots, the fertile land, the Mediterranean-like climate, the special styles in architecture, the rise of Hollywood. He gives us a broad array of engaging (and often eccentric) characters: from Harrision Gray Otis to Helen Hunt Jackson to Cecil B. DeMille. Whether discussing the growth of winemaking or the burgeoning of reform movements, Starr keeps his central theme in sharp focus: how Californians defined their identity to themselves and to the nation.
Customer Reviews:
Read the 'Dream' and weep.......2006-07-24
I read this book 20 years ago. It has held up remarkably well. California is the victim of its own utopian dreams.
Should Be Called a History of Southern California.......2004-02-18
... Not that I have a problem with that. This is the second volume in Starr's definitive six volume history of California. Starr writes history that combines straight forward "who, what, when" facts with digressions into literary criticism and pyschologlogical speculation. This is a blend that is quite apt for California, and I have found volume one and two to be rewarding.
Starr (who is also the state librarian for California) also includes excellent essays on his sources for each chapter, which makes further reading a snap! For example, after reading his first volume "Americans and the Californian Dream", I read "The Octopus" by Frank Norris and "Two Years Before the Mast" by Dana.
This book covers roughly the same time period as the first volume, and there is some overlap. After all, there wasn't THAT much going on in California from 1850 to 1900. However, while the first volume focuses almost totally on Northern California, this volume focuses almost totally on Southern California.
And by Southern California, I mean Los Angeles, with a little bit of Riverside thrown in. As a native of San Francisco and a current resident of San Diego, I simply couldn't believe at how little San Diego county came in for mention. Again, I'm hesitant to label this as a criticism, since I did love the book, but I just wonder what San Diego did (or didn't do) to get left out.
Starr spends ample time covering pre-American Southern California history. He charts the development of California agriculture, talks about the "Craftsman" movement and, as his wont, spends entire chapters talking about the artists and boosters of the time. Personally, after reading this book I have resolved to read at least one book of Mary Austin.
Towards the end of this volume Starr dishes out a hefty dose of the history of the Progressive movement in California. His essay on sourcing for this chapter reveals a penchant for the works of more traditional political history writers, and I felt like this chapter was kind of "eh."
His final chapter is on the growth of Hollywood. I don't feel like he adds anything to the voluminous literature on this subject, but hey, this is a survey of California history, and I suppose he had to include it.
Overall, I highly recommend this book. If you are more interested in Southern then Northern California, you may want to skip the first volume and proceed directly to this one.
Amazon.com
Texas A&M University professor H.W. Brands enhances his reputation as one of America's great popular historians with The Age of Gold, which tells the story of the California gold rush through rollicking narrative and intelligent analysis. "James Marshall's discovery of gold at Coloma [in 1848] turned out to be a seminal event in history, one of those rare moments that divide human existence into before and after," he writes. It launched "the most astonishing mass movement of people since the Crusades" and "helped initiate the modern era of American economic development." Brands describes how thousands of people from all over the world hazarded the journey, faced the scientific challenge of extracting precious metal from the earth, and finally struggled "to sink roots" where so many came merely "to strip the land." This book is something of a departure for Brands, who most recently has written biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt (both of them excellent). Yet he tackles this new topic with confidence, telling dozens of stories about John Fremont, Leland Stanford, and less famous forty-niners. He concludes by describing why these tales have a national and even global importance. The Age of Gold is magnificent in its sweep, and not to be missed by fans of American history. --John Miller
Book Description
By the Author of the Bestselling Pulitzer Prize Finalist THE FIRST AMERICAN
THEY WENT WEST TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES AND IN THE BARGAIN THEY CHANGED THE WORLD. THIS IS THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE GOLD RUSH.
When gold was first discovered on the American River above Sutter's Fort in January 1848, California was sparsely populated frontier territory not yet ceded to the United States from Mexixo. The discovery triggered a massive influx as hundreds of thousands of people scrambled to California in search of riches, braving dangerous journeys across the Pacific, around Cape Horn, and through the Isthmus of Panama, as well as across America's vast, unsettled wilderness. Cities sprang up overnight, in response to the demand for supplies and services of all kinds. By 1850, California had become a state -- the fastest journey to statehood in U.S. history. It had also become a symbol of what America stood for and of where it was going.
In The Age of Gold, H. W. Brands explores the far-reaching implications of this pivotal point in U.S. history, weaving the politics of the times with the gripping stories of individuals that displays both the best and the worse of the American character. He discusses the national issues that exploded around the ratification of California's statehood, hastening the clouds that would lead to the Civil War. He tells the stories of the great fortunes made by such memorable figures as John and Jessie Fremont, Leland Stanford and George Hearst -- and of great fortunes lost by hundreds now forgotten by history. And he reveals the profound effect of the Gold Rush on the way Americans viewed their destinies, as the Puritan ethic of hard work and the gradual accumulation of worldly riches gave way to the notion of getting rich quickly.
Customer Reviews:
Great approach - lays out the impact of gold in California.......2007-04-10
If you are looking for a book about gold mining in the 1850s in California, this actually isn't it. The book spends very few pages talking about the actual mining of of gold. Instead, Brands takes a broader approach, looking at the historical impact of the discovery of gold in California and comes up with some very interesting insights.
The first thing Brands analyzes in Age of Gold is how the masses that flocked to California actually got there and where they came from. By using personal stories, Brands really brings the voyages and the hardships to life. He finds individuals who came to California from Chile, Australia, Europe and the Eastern U.S. and explains what was unique and common to each of their experiences. It's truly amazing to someone living in the age of commercial jets to read about the trails of getting from New York to San Francisco in 1850, no matter the choice of land or sea.
The second aspect of Brand's analysis is the culture of California in the 1850s and beyond. How the cities of the territory emptied on the discovery of gold and then filled up. Brands talks about the bar and brothel filled towns and settlements and the initial lack of women in California. He also points out how hard it was to set up a civil society with everyone in town simply for the purpose of getting rich quickly off of gold. The rapidity with which California goes through different phases is fascinating.
Brands then looks at how California's population explosion forced the statehood debate for California into the fore in Congress and ultimately forced the slavery debate into prominence again. Every state that came into the Union at this time was hotly contested as to whether it would be a free state or a slave state, with huge ramifications for the balance of free/slave power in congress.
The whole of the story is told through peoples' stories and experiences and has a very personal feel. Well worth reading.
Interesting , anecdotal.......2007-02-09
Brands uses the experiences of the common forty niner and the likes of John Fremont, Leland Stanford and William T. Sherman to show how the gold rush eventually resulted in the demise of the old south and the actualization of the American dream. A good pace and extensive use of anecdotes made this an enjoyable read.
Excellent Book...one of the best I've ever read.......2007-01-10
Truly the most fascinating historical account of the California Gold Rush. The author, through his research, has brought to life the troubles and tribulations of those who left their homes and families to come to the golden state. I highly recommend it. I am an historical researcher and writer and I have read alot of history books, and this one takes the prize.
California Here We Come!.......2006-11-21
The Age of Gold
The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream.
H. W. Brands has writen a compelling and comprehensive account of the California gold rush starting with the discovery at Sutters Mill.
As the news spread from California, people from all over the world came to join in the mining. Others like John and Jessie Fremont were merely in the right place at the right time.
At first pans were used to sift the gold from the sand; later a cradle was used. Even later the "Long Tom,"--an improvement on the cradle--made even better returns.
Many people that moved to California during the gold rush stayed there for the remainder of their lives. Large towns such as San Francisco grew at unprecedented rates because of the influx of people that came by boat.
This written account of the gold rush by Brands illustrates America's continual quest for the perfect get rich quick scheme. Many people did make their fortunes, but many others didn't survive the journey, and still others died when they arrived, or died working in the mines. The Age of Gold tells of the good, and the bad; the honest, and the scoundrel in an enjoyable fashion.
A great,great book.......2006-11-13
While this book has been out quite a while I read it after reading some of Brands other books. I personally feel this is his best book. By following the story of the famous and the obscure on their way to the California goldfields and their life thereafter he lends a truly human scope to the story. By looking at the affect of the gold rush on the immigrants from various countries as well as the native americans already there he tells the big picture. This is a must read for anyone with an interest in the settlement of California or the "taming" of the west. Excellent!!
Book Description
In an era of escalating food politics, many believe organic farming to be the agrarian answer. In this first comprehensive study of organic farming in California, Julie Guthman casts doubt on the current wisdom about organic food and agriculture, at least as it has evolved in the Golden State. Refuting popular portrayals of organic agriculture as a small-scale family farm endeavor in opposition to "industrial" agriculture, Guthman explains how organic farming has replicated what it set out to oppose.
Customer Reviews:
Original, Intellectually Engaging: It Rips Stale Myths Apart.......2004-07-30
Well, everything you think you know about organic agriculture gets brilliantly demolished and reformulated in this innovative and ground breaking book. Think you know about small family farmers in California? Well, get ready to learn about the real corporate farming tradition, especially in the Central Valley. Think a new generation of organic farms makes for some sort of new utopia? Well, you're living in an "agrarian dream" if you think conditions for agricultural workers get transformed automatically in a more "organic" world.
I eat organic food all the time and myth after myth that I have accepted gets exposed in this book. Think the regulators are always on the side of the little guy? Think eating organic food automatically creates a more sustainable food system? Think you're "going back to nature" if you eat organic? Well, Guthman lays out how all of us have to think critically and take concerted action if we really want to change the power relations of today's industrial agriculture.
And yet I finished this book more exhilirated and inspired to
think about and work toward a new world of sustainable agriculture. And with my eyes now wide open that when I'm eating an organic apple that doesn't transform the world or ease the exploitation of those working the land. I see this as a seminal work in showing us clearly how to tear off our blinders and move from our agrarian "dreams' to a new agrarian reality.
Book Description
Bestselling author and Hollywood historian David Wallace unveils 25 enchanting buildings and homes from Hollywood's glorious Golden Age. Hollywood buffs and architecture enthusiasts alike will savor this in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the histories of these spectacular structures, as well as the titillating revelations about many of their famous occupants.
Each restored to its original grandeur, the buildings here-from private homes to theaters, hotels, restaurants, and hot spots of the day-are showcased in 200 sumptuous photographs, all specially commissioned for this book, as well as rare historic shots. The intimate portraits of these famed spaces-including the homes of Hollywood superstars such as Cary Grant, Gloria Swanson, Cecil B. DeMille, and Charlie Chaplin, plus locations like Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Max Factor building-demonstrate the innovation, ingenuity, and drive that gave birth to Hollywood.
Customer Reviews:
poor images and quality.......2007-01-31
The images and text in this book are of poor quality. If you are expecting a coffee table quality book of the same caliber as an Architectural Digest, look somewhere else.
FANTASTIC!.......2006-12-05
I thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover to cover. There are so many interesting stories and tid bits about the stars of Hollywood's golden age. From the suave Cary Grant to the powerful DeMille to the comic W.C. Fields. The homes are anywhere from spectacular to homey. This book also covers some famous theaters and restaurants. I highly recommend it!
Life can be unbearably sweet.......2006-08-21
Fantastic book that gives you access to the lifestyles of the truly privledged in Los Angeles. Jaw dropping pictures that other books can only dream of publishing. This is a must buy for anyone interested in Southern California architecture.
Voyeur.......2006-04-27
I loved this book. Something about the pictures... one feels like you're actually there... technically part of it is that the human eye sees inside and outside. Photographers get one of the other... but not both. In these pictures it feels like you are walking through a house... seeing it as a guest of the famous resident... and seeing it as you would if you were there in person. You can look at the room, the furniture, or out the window. There's an emotional quality that was stirred in me.
Likewise, the text is telling tidbits and gems that the famous owner might reveal to a friend... One learns things that you wouldn't dare ask. Its a great marriage between the past private and public lives of people that we all know. Though they are long in their graves, they come to life in this fascinating book.
I'd been in some of these homes. The Charles Laughton home in Palos Verdes, Portugese Bend, was a fascinating journey as a kid... walking over Peacock Flats, through the Vanderlip estate... looking for feathers, and hoping not to be caught. The fear that Quasimodo would emerge and chase us, I can still feel it. I think that going back there in the book, this was my favorite.
A Bricks and Mortar Tour of Hollywood Elegantly Presented.......2006-03-13
When Lucy and Ethel took the bus tour of the movie star homes on "I Love Lucy", you will undoubtedly recall Lucy finding herself bobbing for grapefruit at Richard Widmark's palatial estate. Now we can all see what is behind the other side of the barrier wall thanks to this elegant coffee table book compiled by fervent Hollywood historian David Wallace. With some beautiful photos and descriptive, trivia-laden text, he includes twenty-five buildings and homes that were designed and built during Hollywood's golden era.
Painstakingly restored to their original grandeur, they represent a variety of eclectic architectural styles from Art Deco to Mediterranean and Spanish Colonial. While the typical landmarks such as Graumann's Chinese Theater are here, the book is highlighted by the homes of screen legends like Carole Lombard, Gloria Swanson, Cecil B. DeMille, Chales Laughton, Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, and Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard. The furnishings within the homes are not so much lavish as surprisingly idiosyncratic and insightful to the personalities inhabiting the settings. The photographs by Juergen Nogai are often stunning and give evidence of both the creativity and decadence pervasive at the time. This is definitely a fun one to peruse.
Book Description
Kevin Starr is the foremost chronicler of the California dream and indeed one of the finest narrative historians writing today on any subject. The first two installments of his monumental cultural history, Americans and the California Dream, have been hailed as "mature, well-proportioned
and marvelously diverse (and diverting)" (The New York Times Book Review), "rich in details and alive with interesting, and sometimes incredible people" (Los Angeles Times), and "a luminous and delightful saga that will become an American classic" (W. Jackson Bate). Now, in Material Dreams, Starr
turns to one of the most vibrant decades in the Golden State's history, the 1920s, when some two million Americans migrated to California, the vast majority settling in or around Los Angeles.
Although he treats readers to intriguing side trips to Santa Barbara and Pasadena, Starr focuses here mainly on Los Angeles, revealing how this major city arose almost defiantly on a site lacking many of the advantages required for urban development, creating itself out of sheer will, the Great
Gatsby of American cities. He describes how William Ellsworth Smyth, the Peter the Hermit of the Irrigation Crusade, propounded the importance of water in Southern California's future, and how such figures as the self-educated, Irish engineer William Mulholland (who built the main aquaducts to Los
Angeles) and George Chaffey (who diverted the Colorado River, transforming desert into the lush Imperial Valley) brought life-supporting water to the arid South. He examines the discovery of oil ("Yes it's oil, oil, oil / that makes LA boil," went the official drinking song of the Uplifters Club),
the boosters and land developers, the evangelists (such as Bob Shuler, the Methodist Savanarola of Los Angeles, and Aimee Semple McPherson), and countless other colorful figures of the period. There are also fascinating sections on the city's architecture (such as the remarkably innovative Bradbury
Building and its eccentric, neophyte designer, George Wyman), the impact of the automobile on city planning, the great antiquarian book collections, the Hollywood film community, and much more.
By the end of the decade, Los Angeles had tripled in population and become the fifth largest city in the nation. In Material Dreams, Kevin Starr captures this explosive growth in a narrative tour de force that combines wide-ranging scholarship with captivating prose.
Customer Reviews:
Starr Hits His Stride..........2004-03-17
Starr hits his stride in this, his third in his epic series on the history of California. At last, Starr is free to focus on the subject that any reader can tell is "near and dear" to his heart: The emergence of Los Angeles as a full blown titan of a city. Although the subtitle to this book is "Southern California Through the 1920's", once again, it would be be more appropriate to hone in on the main subject and retitle the book "Los Angeles and Two Chapters on Santa Barbara Through the 1920's".
Again, not that I'm complaining. Perhaps because of Starr's intent focus on a single city, his talent really shines in this volume. This is one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in the last year.
The first section of the book deals with Southern California and Water. His sub chapter on the Imperial Valley is a real barn burner. I've never read such a complete account of the events in Imperial Valley in the early 20th century, and I would recommend the book for that reason alone.
The second and third sections tackle the emergence of Los Angeles society. Here, Starr goes on the offensive, tackling the idea that L.A. is a cultural wasteland. You can almost hear the voice of a professor lecturing undergraduates. Starr starts at economic institutions, discusses the people of Los Angeles and ends with a discussion of cultural institutions. The end of the third section deals with the "Santa Barbara" alternative.
For me, these two chapters were the least enjoyable in the book.
Fortunately, Starr rebounds with his treatment of literary and "biblio" society in LA. These chapters make for fascinating reading, and were a high point of the entire series. I certainly did not know that LA was a center of the rare book trade!
Vibrant and detailed analysis of the rise of institutions.......1997-09-05
I was a student of Dr. Starr's in the USC Master of Real Estate Development program in the early 1990's. Dr. Starr's analysis of California during the period is both thorough and enlightening. Dr. Starr gives particular emphasis to the Los Angeles element of California growth, with particular analysis of the Department of Water and Power, the Los Angeles Police Department, and, perhaps not coincidentally, the University of Southern California and its training of careerist professionals rather than academics. I highly recommend this work, and by linkage, any of Dr. Starr's works
Customer Reviews:
Dreams in realities.......2000-08-18
The books sends a profound message about life here in California, which is not entirely factual. When I have read the book it made me realized that how people perceived California is greatly influenced by what we hear and see from the media and television. But living here makes a person either contented or emotionally depressed.
Book Description
Part Two Of Two Parts
The emergence of California as a regional civilization in the late nineteenth century was far more than a dramatic and colorful chapter in American history. Probing the inner experience of California's formative years, Starr blends fact and historical vision with striking metaphor to re-create the nature of the California dream and reveal its significance as a social, psychological and symbolic enterprise. Commemorative in approach, this totally engaging work shows how the land and the people interacted to form a distinct and fascinating culture. While dramatizing the debate over what California was and what it should be, Starr also exposes the fallacies and contradictions inherent in the dream itself. All the ferment of the state's history is presented here as the citizens themselves lived through it.
Customer Reviews:
Good institutional history.......2004-11-23
Starr's cultural history of California is more institutional history than anything else. It's full of dates and events surrounding the history of colleges and churches and the people who founded them. One can easily sense Starr's interest in intellectual history as reflected in architecture and education which, ironically, is a very East-coast way of looking at West-coast culture. Starr's book is good if you like that sort of thing, but it's not a tempting study for those more fascinated with flesh and bone rather than brick and stone. Some could claim that it misses the fundamental essense of California culture altogether.
This first book of the series is heavily centered around San Francisco and its related institutions.
The Psychology of California's Formative Years.......2004-01-14
As a native Californian (San Francisco) I read this book after seeing it cited again and again as an excellent entry point for a study of California history.
I was not disappointed. I believe this book is widely acknowledged as a classic in the field of California history, and I certainly wouldn't disagree with that judgment.
Prof. Starr attempts to illuminate the psychology of early California by providing mini-biographies of important California residents. These biographies are linked together by several recurrent themes. It is these themes that provide the thesis (theses?) of the book.
The themes are: The dark side of the optomism which characterizes the "California" personality; the harsh conflict in early times which affected the development of a Californian "civilisation" and the melding of cultures (Mexican and Californian, Northern and Southern) that produced Californian culture.
Starr focuses more on cultural rather then economic or political figures. Starr also shows a fondness for somewhat Freudian explanations for behavior (repressive parents, absent parents, neglectful parents). Given the age of the book (1975) it's hard to quibble with the inclusion of a perspective tilted towards psychological explanation.
On the whole it was a worthwhile read, and not too dense either. Recommended for those interested in the history of California and it's culture.
Wonderful Book!!!.......2002-11-16
Kevin Starr has written a fantastic book. In Americans and the California Dream the reader is introduced to the giants of the age--Herbert Hoover, Leland Stanford, David Star Jordan, John Muir, John C. Fremont, etc. I also loved the fact that he included the lessor known personalities as well. Mr. Star clearly relates the truth behind all the myth and romance with regards to the Gold Rush. While Bret Harte is thorougly debunked, Starr acknowledges that the Gold Rush continues to hold the lure and romance that it always possessed. Anyone who wishes to be introduced to the wonderful history of California must read this. I will immediately purchase the second book of the series.
highly recommended.......2002-07-09
There are two good places to start if you want to know the history of California: the work of Carey McWilliams and this book. Starr really did his homework, and the range of detail is amazing. Like McWilliams, he knows how to tell a story, and he usually has the back-stage lore on whatever public events he describes in his lucid and very readable prose. That a fact or two occasionally get out of place (the San Diego Mission was not founded by Father Altimiri but by Junipero Serra; and San Antonio de Padua is actually in Monterey County) does not diminish the power or scope of this worthy book.
Great introduction to the meaning of California.......2002-04-02
Having lived in CA since I was 15 and not being able to imagine living somewhere else, I thought this volume is a must-read for all Californians, whether born here or "naturalized". Being specifically a San Francisco resident, this book shed more light on the history of this city's beginning and "teenage years" than any other source I have come across. Here you will not just read facts about people like Jack London, Frank Norris, John Muir, John C. Fremont and Richard Henry Dana. You will learn what they contributed to the idea of California and their influence on what this state has turned out to be, for good or bad. You will also learn of lesser-known figures such as Thomas Starr King, Thomas Jordan, Isidore Duncan all of whom were immensely powerful figures in their day, but hardly known today by the average Californian. The writing got a little ploddy at the end for me. Maybe I was just tired. Until I got to the last two chapters, I would have given it a 5 score, mostly on the criteria of how much I learned from it. I look forward to reading the next few volumes.
Customer Reviews:
Not what I expected.......2007-03-29
The book was shorter and smaller than what I expected. After visiting Hearst Castle last year and hearing about this architect, I wanted to learn more. I think that there are better books out there.
The Best Book Report Book.......2005-12-13
Wow. I wanted to do a good book for my book report. This book was just the right one. It's about the life of Julia Morgan and what she was like. Now, if you don't like biographies, I don't either. This book waas really good though. I recommend this to anyone that hates biographies. The other reason I think I liked it is that my name is similar to hers! This book is all about the true Julia Morgan.
An impressive woman, a bittersweet life.......2003-08-27
I've been somewhat familiar with Julia Morgan's architecture for many years, so it was interesting to read about her life. This is a nice quick read for an adult, but would really be wonderful as a gift to that niece or nephew who aspires to be an architect. The book does a good job of demonstrating how important Miss Morgan's determination and leadership skills were to her success, in addition to her obvious artistic giftedness.
As a Berkeley grad I was disappointed to learn that one of my heros, John Galen Howard, who was chief campus architect in the early 20th century (and designer of the Campanile, among many other of the granite buildings), acted in such a petty way towards Miss Morgan, blocking any campus building contracts from going to her because she had the audacity to leave his office to go solo. On the other hand, Bernard Maybeck sounds as though he was as delightful as the Berkeley brown shingles he designed.
A touching aspect of the book is how it illustrates Miss Morgan's kindness to everyone she came in contact with. She designed a playhouse for the children of the man who chauferred her to and from the Hearst Castle site. When her own mother was getting old and fearful she built an exact replica in San Francisco of the bedroom her mother had lived in for many years in Oakland.
Outstanding.......1999-01-27
I read this book when it first came out to review for our library collection. It has always been one of the books that has stood out in my mind as an unforgettable. It is terrific not just for the youth but also adults. It is an exemplary biography for an exemplary woman. Julia Morgan was one of our countries first women architects. It is an excellent biography for girls and the general public. An excellent comprehensive read of one of our countries finest architects. I highly recommend it for someone looking for an oustanding, informative, inspiring fun read for our youth.
Average customer rating:
- Historically accurate and easy to read
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Golden Dreams
Gwen Bristow
Manufacturer: Ty Crowell Co
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Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine And The Arizona Territories, 1906
ASIN: 0690016786 |
Customer Reviews:
Historically accurate and easy to read.......2000-09-09
It was fun reading that book, it took me only 3 days! Gwen Bristow uses her writing skills to bring historic events to life. From the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill to California's admission as the 31st state of the Union - an interesting description of California history. Including a portrayal of the first woman (and baby daughter) to travel to California across the country in 1841.
Average customer rating:
- Not Free SF Reader
- Not as good as the original
- That Voodoo That They Do
- What a waste!
- An Enjoyable Romp Through a Simulated Wonderland
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The California Voodoo Game
Larry Niven
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0345365984
Release Date: 1992-02-04 |
Book Description
Dream Park, the ultimate in amusement parks, was about to embark on the greatest Game ever: the California Voodoo Game. Across the world bets were being placed; fortunes and reputations hung in the balance. Gaming careers would be made--or destroyed. And the most advanced software package ever invented was going to be tested.
But one of the players was a murderer--and worse. Only Alex Griffin, head of Dream Park Security, and Game Master Tony McWhirter guessed the extent of the treachery tainting the Game. Somehow, they had to catch the killer--but above all, the Game must go on....
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-25
Again, a murder is committed in Dream Park, and this time the deceased is Alex Griffin's girlfriend. That was probably a mistake.
The California Voodoo Game is massive, involving several teams of top class players, and five Gamemasters, including Tony McWhirter.
Griffin again has to join the game, but this time as a NPC guide. Eventually they discover a complicated, very clever game of industrial espionage is being played within the Voodoo Game itself.
Not as good as the original.......2007-04-28
If you're already a fan of Dream Park, this is a decent read. Don't expect it to be as good as the original, but it's worth the cost for a light, entertaining read.
That Voodoo That They Do.......2003-08-08
This second followup to the cult hit "Dream Park" is not as good as its inspiration, but is mounds better than its predecessor, "The Barsoom Project". I'll save my Barsoom bashing for another review, though, and just talk about "The California Voodoo Game" in this one.
This novel has everything that was good about "Dream Park", but still manages to be a tedious, less interesting version of the original. Most of the familiar characters are back, Griffin, the tough-as-nails Security Chief with the heart of gold, Acacia Garcia, the tough-as-nails gamer with the squishy insides, Tony McWhirter, the hacker criminal made good. They're all tossed into the Dream park salad to play a game called "California Voodoo", which would be fine if not for the fact that - DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUHHHH - someone get's murdered before the game and the Dream Park staff must infiltrate the game in order to catch the killer without setting off the alarms, spooking the gamers or losing their merchandising rights.
Just like the other two novels.
Sadly, this outing picks up a little of the creaky, world-weariness of the second book and keeps none of the rollicking, out and out fun of the first. The concept of Voodoo magick played out in a gigantic, ruined building is at once interesting and limiting. The authors, for all their bibliographic citations, show only a rudimentary understanding of vodoun and its many variations. The random appearance of loa is distracting and confusing.
The thing that was most fun about "Dream Park" was the fact that Griffin had to join a game as a player and track his prey from under cover; this meant the reader got to experience the game much as the players did. Here, the real focus is on the investigation. Too much takes place outside the game, too little explanation goes into the game and the authors don't really support the world they've created within the walls of Dream Park.
Frankly, the mystery just isn't that compelling. While the outcome may have cost Dream Park's parent company a ton of dough, I just didn't care. While the villain had murdered someone in the beginning of the book, I just didn't care about the victim or the methods used to catch the killer. What I DID care about was The Game. And there just wasn't enough game to go around.
The writing duo's prose this time around is more accessible than in The Barsoom Project and those reading the series for the first time will not be too disappointed to finish here instead of there. But overall, the magic feels like it's gone.
What a waste!.......2002-04-06
There was a time that I read every book that Larry Niven was involved in, until this book came out. I haven't read a single one of his books since. After reading Dream Park, I thought I'd give him one more chance. Then came this book, and I decided that if he was going to write such tedious books, I just wouldn't waste my time.
The book involves several teams of players in an imaginary game in which some things are real, and some are just kind of projected into that reality. Meanwhile, some people are trying to play the game, while some are trying to circumvent it. It was simply too much effort to keep track of what was real, what was projected, who was playing, who wasn't playing, and who was just pretending to play. Plus, when you find out, their motives are implausable.
The worst thing about this book is it serves no purpose. Science Fiction should provide the reader insight about science, human nature, possible worlds, or the direction of society. This was just a silly reason to tie some characters together and publish a book.
An Enjoyable Romp Through a Simulated Wonderland.......2001-01-16
When science fiction like this emerges, it brings a sense of wonder, a moment of shock. "This Isn't Far Away!". California Voodoo Game tip-toes the fine lines of modern technology to bring a tale that is intriguing and imaginative. When role-players of our present meet and adopt the virtual reality technology of the near-future, then the world of this novel isn't far away.
The cast of characters is vast, and often we don't get a very indepth vision of them. The Game, which takes on a life of its own for the players, is the most fully fleshed of the "characters". The Game, virtually painted over a huge and somewhat hazardous real-world, is made even more risky when some of the players are playing for higher stakes and breaking every rule.
Okay, so the plot and the writing wasn't the greatest in Sci Fi Fiction today. The characters won't glow in godly pop-culturdom for years to come. But--the technology, the fantasy of this not-so-distant future is so compelling, it makes this book a near perfect escape.
Gaming geeks of the world..rejoice! This one is for you. To the future of gaming..closer than we imagine.
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- Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop--A History
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- Lead Us into Temptation
- Les Misérables (Signet Classics)
- Living In Hell: A True Odyssey of a Woman's Struggle in Islamic Iran Against Personal and Political Forces
- Ludwig van Beethoven Complete String Quartets
- My First Book of Classical Music: 29 Themes by Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and Other Great Composers in Easy Piano Arrangements
- My First Book of Classical Music: 29 Themes by Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and Other Great Composers in Easy Piano Arrangements
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