Customer Reviews

The Literature of California, Volume 1: Native American Beginnings to 1945

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I'm taking a class from one of the guys who compiled the book, and for starters let me say twenty bucks is a damn good deal for a textbook. This one is meaty too. Very interesting prefaces for each selection of writing, as well as essays about each period. A must for anyone curious about Mythic California and the writers who, well, wrote about it. Great stuff by Twain and other biggies. My favorite pieces are those giving a glimpse into Californian mining camps. The one downfall of this book is that it would have been difficult interpreting the native american stories had I not been takeing a class concurrently. The essays written by the editors about the decimation of the native population, the subsequent eviction of Mexicans were much more insightful than the native pieces themselves. There are also pieces by descendants of native peoples, which give insight.

I purchased this book as an adult for a college level course. The reading is fairly easy but well detailed. I'm not a great lover of history but this book has definitely peaked my interest in a greater way. There are several authors featured in the Literature of California. Each story has an introduction of the author and their history or inspiration for the writing. I think if History would have been introduced from this perspective first I may have done better in grade school