Cash Crop: An American Dream [Paperback]

Ray Raphael (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Northern California's marijuana-growing population has received ample publicity in the last few years. Steve Chapple's Outlaws in Babylon ( LJ 8/84) was a very personal and favorable view of this subculture; Raphael's book is an attempt to look at pros and cons both. It consists of lengthy interviews with growers, lifelong area residents, law enforcers, and other people with special knowledge of the situation. The author gives some economic and social history of the region, thus furnishing a context for the rest of the book. The best thing about the book is its balance. Raphael lets people explain their own points of view, and the people he chooses are almost all sympathetic; therefore, most readers should finish this book with more insight into the problem. Carol Rasmussen, M.L.S., Natl. Ctr. for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Col.

Copyright 1985 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 179 pages
• Publisher: Ridge Times Pr; First Edition edition (August 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934203032
• ISBN-13: 978-0934203036
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,748,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ray Raphael has taught at a one-room public high school, Humboldt State University, and College of the Redwoods. His twelve books include Founding Myths, A People's History of the American Revolution, and The First American Revolution, all available from The New Press. He lives in Redway, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific, July 22, 2010

By 

Sam Quinones (Claremont, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cash Crop: An American Dream (Paperback)

This is a book of oral histories of the early years of the marijuana industry in what's now known as the Emerald Triangle. Raphael writes that marijuana was a crop in the grand American tradition, spawning a generation of pioneers to the area. it allowed people, with very little beyond hard work and guts, to have a rural life, during years when rural America elsewhere was collapsing.

In my experience up in this area, he's quite right. the fact that the crop's price never stopped rising ($5000 a pound wholesale in mid-1990s) was of course crucial and something other pioneers never enjoyed. Many marijuana communities resemble quaint Americana, raising money for schools and hospices with bake sales and quilt raffles -- of course if you're crop is earning thousands a pound, then it's not hard to raise money at barn dances and bake sales.

this is a great book, quick to read and very perceptive....

Sam Quinones, [...]

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book - needs follow-up book, March 5, 2007

By 

Hammock (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cash Crop: An American Dream (Paperback)

Very interesting history of the formerly-isolated northern California area. Interviews are followed by author's comments. It documents the changing ways of subsisting and the impact of the introduction of marijuana farming. The book was published in 1985 and the interviews were earlier, so it's a moment in time. I'd like to see recent book on the subject.