Displaying California's "vast geographic diversity, and the variety of ways in which its writers and artists responded to the challenge of its landscape," this anthology--a travel book as much as a history--is organized by region in a text that includes poems, excerpts from novels, pioneer journals and letters of travelers. "We were new creatures, born again, and truly not until this time were we fairly conscious that we were born at all," noted John Muir of his exploration of the Santa Clara Valley in 1868. He and writers Jack London, John Steinbeck, Frank Norris, Robert Louis Stevenson and Robinson Jeffers show more range than the almost uniformly euphoric and pastoral 100 color landscapes included here by artists such as William Keith ( Donner Pass , 1890) and Gordon Coutts ( Desert Wash , 19l3). Vincent is director of Bedford Arts, Mills a former director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
California has always loomed large in the national imagination as a symbol of the unlimited possibilities of the American experience. The dream and the reality of the Golden State are explored in these three works. Full of geography, geology, and natural and cultural history, Desert Heart is the most scientific of the three. The Sonoran Desert takes in large portions of western Arizona, northwestern Mexico, and Baja as well as southern California. Based on 25 years of exploration, astronomer/painter Hartmann spins a history of events and colorful characters in this harsh region. The photos and maps enhance the detailed narrative rather than stealing the show. The 122 color photographs in California are a feast of the familiar--poppy fields, crashing surf, cable cars, lofty redwoods, Yosemite Valley, and twisted bristlecone pines. This coffee-table elegy is big, glossy, and self-assured. Jones's photos gorgeously reveal the Golden State's rich diversity. O California! is an exhibition catalog without an exhibition. Organized by geographic location, its 109 landscapes range from the earliest artists to the 1930s. The visual material is matched with literary passages from writers, artists, naturalists, settlers, and Native Americans. The book is both celebration and lamentation, celebrating the land and vision while lamenting its staggering changes over the last 150 years.
- Russell T. Clement, Brigham Young Univ. Lib., Provo, Ut.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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