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A review by sethsb
The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California by Mark Arax
5.0
"Drought is California. Flood is California. The lie is the normal. No society in history has gone to greater lengths to deny its fundamental nature than California. The Netherlands figured out long ago its arrangement with the sea. California, for a century and two-thirds now, keeps forgetting its arrangement with drought and flood. The repeat of each new cycle is greeted by the populace as a spectacle. Our staying dumb to our essential nature is such a shared trait that even among the most enlightened citizens of Los Angeles and San Francisco there exists a profound ignorance about where our water comes from. It comes from someplace else. The blankness runs deep and is self-justifying to the point that big city residents feel something close to righteous indignation as they rip into the Fresno almond grower for drawing upon water swindled not from hundreds of miles away, like their water is, but from right beneath his feet."
Arax pulls no punches in reporting the entire history of California, telling the story of how it became a contentious battleground in the war for water. The author wades into the complexities of agriculture, legislature, and residential development.
He brings together stories with notorious figures like Sutter, Miller, Burbank, Boswell and Resnick. Riding from mountain range to desert horizon and dusty vineyard, he not only focuses on great men, but also gives profiles of the common men and women working to stock the lakes with fish, measure soil subsidence, and deliver food to our table.
The author is a reporter through and through. He has asked the hardest questions to the most powerful people. He has spent time with the poorest to see what life is like in tenant dwellings. He carried the story for years, developing it into a solid, compelling argument.
I would keep this book on my shelf as a reference for state history. I probably would not display it at work. Parents, be advised that there are some snippets that are not appropriate for young readers.
Arax pulls no punches in reporting the entire history of California, telling the story of how it became a contentious battleground in the war for water. The author wades into the complexities of agriculture, legislature, and residential development.
He brings together stories with notorious figures like Sutter, Miller, Burbank, Boswell and Resnick. Riding from mountain range to desert horizon and dusty vineyard, he not only focuses on great men, but also gives profiles of the common men and women working to stock the lakes with fish, measure soil subsidence, and deliver food to our table.
The author is a reporter through and through. He has asked the hardest questions to the most powerful people. He has spent time with the poorest to see what life is like in tenant dwellings. He carried the story for years, developing it into a solid, compelling argument.
I would keep this book on my shelf as a reference for state history. I probably would not display it at work. Parents, be advised that there are some snippets that are not appropriate for young readers.