Customer Reviews

The Far Side of Eden: New Money, Old Land, and the Battle for Napa Valley

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Conaway's first book on the topic, "Napa, the Story of an American Eden," held a mirror to a beautiful place and the wonders of American winemaking. This sequel goes through the looking glass into a world of greed and self absorption, where a monoculture rapes land, trophy homes blight ridgetops, egos swell and rot like grapes too long on the vine.
Finely reported, elegantly written, "The Far Side of Eden" would be depressing -- if the tale weren't told with such wit and good humor. The hubris of winemakers like Pahlmeyer and Staglin and Copolla emerge as hilarious, the self-righteousness of both the winos and the ecos as ridiculous.
It's quite sad, and hugely funny.
I think this is an important book. It spotlights Napa, but it could be anywhere in America where riches come too fast and too much and the result is look-at-me-look-at-me development.
Read it slow, and let it breathe, it's a treat.

As a former Napa vinter, I eagerly looked forward to reading Conway's excursion into my home county. While there are interesting ideas in the book, they lurk beneath the soil like potatoes, never springing forth to see the light of day. Many of my neighbors (and, I should add, close friends) are presented in this book as gross parodies; this, I suppose, might be expected from an outsider to the region, but I had a difficult time getting past these rough characterizations.

As a Napa resident and former winemaker, I can say that this book truly pulls back the curtains to expose the overinflated egos that are rapidly transforming our valley into just another trendy, overpriced tourist trap.

It is a much more entertaining and accurate read than Kolpan's Sense of Place which basically parrots Coppola's publicity agent's "approved" history. This is a must have book for anyone interested in what goes on behind the scenes in the Napa Valley.

Reading the other reviews, I cannot help but shake my head in astonishment...."Well Written"??? Ideas move in and out of paragraphs with no real logical flow of ideas. Few dates are presented to help the reader follow the timetable (which is likely because the scenes are re-sequenced for dramatic effect). I am an avid reader of literature, but found myself constantly rereading passages to try and decipher the idea being presented or the scene being described. I finally decided that the editor either gave up or never tried. Much of the book reads more like a stream of consciousness than a documentation of events witnessed by the author.

Furthermore, this book is an amalgam of ad hominem attacks on everyone who dares to make money in the wine industry. Those with family money are dismissed as "lucky spermers" unless like, Peter Mennen, they use their money to stop big business. Mennen is portrayed as the noble hero but seems to be more a naive idealist. Certainly, there are forces of good and bad in any capitalist industry, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Ending vineyard development would lead to one of two things - more houses in place of vineyards or higher and higher prices for vintners as the scarcity increased their profits. Certainly, there is a middle ground yet Conaway, by following the bull-headed extremists, would have us believe that there can be no compromise.

Check this book out from the library if you must read it, but support more even-handed works with your dollars.

I loved "The Far Side of Eden." Conaway vividly captured the personalities in Napa Valley, and the absurdities, carried out by all sides and told in rich and wonderful detail, make this book both hilarious and disturbingly sad. It was a book that needed to be written, and Conaway does a great job of reporting all sides of this important land-use issue. The unfolding drama - and humor - carried me forward effortlessly.

This book was a complete disappointment to me, it was all I could do to finish it. I actually enjoyed Conaway's earlier "Napa" quite a bit. Although the mediocre writing was annoying at times and the level of detail out of whack across some topics, overall it provided a solid and fascinating social history and I gave it 4 stars. But Eden seems to me like a bad sequel to a movie, trying to squeeze life and extra pages out of an idea beyond its time. Yes, I wanted to know the details of the decade since Napa left off, but the writing went downhill, the trivial gossip increased, there was way more exaggeration and oversimplification, and too much dumb cuteness, e.g., "lucky spermers". Who among us is not a lucky spermer, and was it really necessary to repeat this phrase over and over again? Although I am definitely a slow growth-er and am saddened by some of the overdevelopment that has occurred in the Valley, I suggest reading Mondavi's book and Kolpan's "A Sense of Place" about the Niebaum-Coppola winery to at least hear the other side (also biased of course) to Conaway's one-sided hypercriticism and overly negative biases.

It's taken me all this time to find this little gem of a book and writing a review now seems silly, but it will make me feel good to do so. I've read all the reviews and here's my take on it. As someone who's lived in the SF Bay area for over 30 years I have visited the Napa Valley hundreds of times as I have many friends who live and work there, most of whom are in the hospitality/wine business. While I don't personally know any of the people Conaway writes about I am very familiar with their names and wineries. In my mind there is no doubt that what he writes about is spot on. Many of those people should be ashamed, but we know they aren't nor will ever be. The growth in the Valley to this day is absurd and unnecessary. I don't agree with the review that if vineyards weren't grown on the land homes would be built on it nor do I agree whatsoever that Conaway has a chip on his shoulder. His narrative is intelligent, interesting and stunning. While I'm no literary genius I believe this is a well written book, hilarious at times (the chapter on Coppola is worth the price of the book). I never read "Napa" but will do so now. But like another reviewer states, I would love to read what Conaway would say about the Valley as it is now. But who would talk to him? Snicker. Much has changed and continues to do so; there are dozens of wineries that have come and gone and continue to sprout up. I prefer the micro guys to the corporate giants and enjoy events such as the Silver Pass that has small winemakers opening their doors and vines to the public. It's still one of my favorite places to go, with the exception of Yountville, that used to be a small, quaint, quiet town. It is now an abomination of overpriced real estate, restaurants, lodging, stores, not to mention the traffic. But the downtown area's growth is about as disturbing. Life goes on, the birds keep singing, even though the river is still dirty.

I find it interesting that most of the bad reviews were from Californians, probably Napans. I can understand that. If I were a native, I could see how outside views like this would be perceived as negative, particularly when you have such conflict going on. As a lover of Napa and any beautiful spot in America, I thorougly loved reading this book. You have to appreciate the research Mr. Conaway undertook and the impossible task of pleasing everyone.

I enjoyed reading this book a lot, even though I felt Conaway was clearly biased in favor of the most extreme environmentalists there, Malan/Mennen as he called them, or in other words the Sierra Club. He also managed to make everyone look bad, and I don't think people there are not as bad as they look in this book. For example, the long term residents love the valley and get along famously for the most part.

Having said that, it does make for entertaining reading, and if you have any interest in the Napa Valley at all it will enlighten you to the local culture and to the issues that are in the forefront of people's minds there as far as land use goes. Although a true story it reads like a page turner novel, there are a lot of colorful characters.

I am also dubious about the claim that this may be a precursor for other land use battles across the country. I sure hope not, I don't think most other places are so willing to listen to extremism as they are in California, and will work out their issues with more comity and more reliance on actual and not junk, politically based science.

Anyboy who has ever had a sip of Napa Valley wine would do well to read Conaway's lyrical expose of the new (and a few old) Napa Valley vintners.

You will understand, immediately, why the new Napa Valleyites tried to prevent Conaway from giving a reading when he visited the area this fall.

As a journalist, I can tell you this story is beautifully reported and written. Sadly, the story is not just about Napa Valley. It is about the American West: Traditional Westerners who have their souls rooted in their landscape are being squeezed out by wealthy newcomers with no taste, and, worse yet, no respect for the place they have invaded.

Next thing we know, Rosy O'Donnell will be a Napa Valley vintner. Or the Bush twins. Or Ted Turner.

Get this book. Read it.