Customer Reviews

Eldorado: Adventures in the Path of Empire

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I stumbled across this book by accident one day and it has turned out to be my find of 2001 -- one of the most enjoyable books I have read in ages. Taylor, a youthful New York journalist and poet, was sent out to California to file back dispatches on this wild, gold-filled, lush place in the seminal gold rush year of 1849, when California was a sprawling region, and not yet a state. And what a fabulous job he does -- this reads more like an engaging adventure narrative than non-fiction, and I could not put it down -- a reader is completely transported into another place and time. One cannot fail to be fascinated by the bustling, energetic, multi-ethnic, can-do place that was the west coast. If you know California, especially the San Francisco, Monterey and Sacramento areas, Taylor's descriptions of their still-untamed landscapes will be both familiar and strange, but always utterly lovely. His reports of the gold rush regions are extraordinary, as is his walk -- yes, *walk* -- from San Francisco to Monterey... this at a time when a galloping horse could get from San Jose to San Francisco in perhaps seven *hours*. Taylor is funny, honest, generally very clear-eyed and unsentimental, and his writing is of very high calibre. Kudos to Heyday Press for bringing this wonderful book to a new audience. I am giving it to everybody as a gift this year.

I can't agree more with the other reviewer who has commented on this book. I also found it accidentally (while looking for books written by James D. Houston), and I also am buying extra copies to give as gifts.

The writing here is majestic, magical, and extremely powerful (yet simple and elegant at the same time). You will learn more about the California of the mid-1800s, by reading this book, than you will probably learn anywhere else. The author was a truly gifted writer, and his expressive and detailed language regarding California life at the time of the gold rush, will enthrall and deeply impact you.

One other point! The quality of this printing is exceptional, and adds greatly to the text itself. This book is an awesome deal, given Amazon's pricing and availability.