Customer Reviews

Earl Thollander's Back Roads of California: 65 Trips on California's Scenic Byways

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Earl Thollander's book, "Back Roads of California", is a wonderful display of Earl Thollander's whimsical, heartfelt drawing style. I grew up in Napa and lived there for almost 30 years from 1960-1990, and Thollander's signature style was uniquely Napan. His drawings of this area give the viewer an idea of what Napa Valley was like before the valley succumbed to the gradual onslaught of the wine, food , and tourist industry. Thollander truly captured the charm and uniqueness of Napa, and I was thrilled to find the Back Roads book at my local Library's used book shop for $1.00. Thollander does to California what he has done for years to the North Bay Area. The book is a wealth of California's nooks and crannies. It contains many of Thollander's notes, sketches of native plants from the various areas, as well as the lively, whimsical drawings of place that give the book its character. I highly recommend this book.

I was disappointed when I got the book to find that all the illustrations inside the book are in black and white. The cover is in color and I assumed the 65 scenes would also be in color. If the book had been printed using the authors original color illustrations it would have been a better book. That's what I bought it for. Rick