BIG DREAMS: Into the Heart of California [Hardcover]

Bill Barich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 1994

A vividly rendered portrait of the diverse landscapes and people of California, past and present, from the far north to the Mexican border, captures the true nature of the state behind the stereotypes. By the author of Traveling Light. 17,500 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Barich, a writer for the New Yorker whose best-known work is a splendid account of the horse-racing world, Laughing in the Hills , has created a highly original book out of a tired idea. Would you believe that anyone could wring fresh interest from exploring the highways and byways of our most-written-about state? Think again. Barish is a deceptively quiet companion, who can fill your ear effortlessly with as many often eccentric facts as John McPhee, enjoy as many offbeat encounters as William Least Heat Moon ( Blue Highways ) and give his travels a personal, idiosyncratic twist like Jonathan Raban's Old Glory . What comes across most strongly in his portrait of a state he accurately assesses as being a part of almost every American's dreams is the elusiveness of that dream for most of those actually living there. Environmental slaughter, plummeting air quality, soulless subdivisions, regrets for lost Edens and dangerously abrupt divisions between rich and poor are much of his stuff; but Barich has a richly accepting eye, too, for what remains of the natural wonder that has dazzled generations of visitors. As adept at sketching the weather and topography of California's many regions as he is at offering bits of economics and sociology, Barish also employs a beautifully fluid style. There is much pleasure in learning the great deal he has to teach us about this endlessly self-indulgent, aspiring place; and if there are occasional miscalculations--we don't really need another rehash of Charles Manson's crimes--they only serve to accentuate the originality, even daring, of most of the book.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Barich (Hard To Be Good, LJ 11/1/87) takes a Steinbeck-like journey through a state that still retains a patina of mystery, an ability to extract a gasp of awe from people who have never visited it. The author has a definite affection for California; though he believes that the dreams most people hold about the Golden State are as tenuous as the San Francisco fogs, during the course of his travels he finds new magical areas that could only be found in a magical state. His journeys take him through more than just the "heart" of California; he covers the state from the Oregon border to Mexico, from coast to desert, from Indian reservation to prison. Essential for all public libraries, especially for those with a demand for Californiana.
Joseph L. Carlson, Vandenberg Air Force Base Lib., Cal.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 546 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1 edition (May 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679421513
• ISBN-13: 978-0679421511
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,201,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dead-on observations, August 9, 2000

By 

jerseymca "jerseymca" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Dreams: Into the Heart of California (Paperback)

Bill Barich travels throughout the state, meets people, and describes California's various places. As a native Californian, it was interesting to see how he described the various people at the various places that both he and I have been. In order to be pithy, he has to distill a town into a short description, which risks greatly oversimplifying matters. Barich pulls it off amazingly well, with dead-on descriptions of many places. Readers may take issue with how he depicts a favorite place, but I think he manages to capture the feel of each place he goes. Definitely worth reading if you're from California or know someone who is.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful soul-searching book ., September 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Dreams: Into the Heart of California (Paperback)

The Kirkus review missed the point. The book was on California, technically. It tells the history of places there. But what the reviewer missed was the ride each reader gets to take with Mr. Barich as he drives from the tip of California down briefly into Mexico. On it we hear bits of Mr. Barich's past when he first moved to California, then settled down with his wife only to be upheaveled again 15 or so years later when that love ends. Those are brief mentions with the crux of the story being HIS observations on the state of things in California, meaning the state of things all over. How we haven't grown much as a culture (despite our young dreams and hopes for ourselves), how we still remain ignorant to others experiences, and how kindness is so rarely shown but desperately needed. Reading the book I didn't feel like a reader at all, but a listener along on the journey.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where's the politics of water?, July 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Dreams: Into the Heart of California (Paperback)

Barich can write colorfully about California, no doubt about that, but he errs in including too much minutinae and not enough about California's most important issue: water. The politics of water must be central to ANY discussion of California. Southern California would not exist as we know it today without Northern California water. The movers and shakers in the water game are crucial for any understanding of 20th century California. Barich misses the boat, so to speak.