Southern California: An Island on the Land

The colonizers, the boosters, the flamboyant pillars of society who bamboozled, bulldozed, and boutiqued their way into California: they and other characters appear on the McWilliams stage in a fascinating--and at times disturbing--progression in which the land itself, that most neglected of characters, puts in appearances too. For we Southern Californians live in a land of constant paradoxes; to quote the author ("The Land of Upside Down"):

"To their amazement"--he means tourists--"they discovered that umbrellas were useless against the drenching rains of Southern California but that they made good shade in the summer; that many of the beautifully colored flowers had no scent; that fruit ripened earlier in the northern than in the southern part of the state; that it was hot in the morning and cool at noon...here, in this paradoxical land, rats lived in the trees and squirrels had their homes in the ground." No wonder we're all a bit topsy-turvy out here.

My one objection: I disagree with the author's description of the early Missions as "concentration camps." That through disease and, later, a mis-education that left the Native converts vulnerable to ranchero exploitation and settler genocide is beyond question; but however misguided their efforts, those early padres had no conscious agenda of wiping out a people. Nevertheless, McWilliams's detailed accounts of Mission life provide a much-needed antidote to the idealization and denial and Eurocentric bias that saturate most Mission histories.

If you want to know Southern California better, then of course you must stand on her soil and listen to her voices; but you could do much worse for an intro-at-a-distance than this fine book, which fellow natives will find confirming and eye-opening.


One for the heart   December 20, 1999
shuttledude
18 out of 21 found this review helpful

For all residents of Southern California past, present, or potential, there can be no better book about this unmatchable part of the world. Past residents (like myself) will sigh with fond remembrance, current residents will be amused, and potential future residents will be astonished. All will be entertained. The land, the geography, the history, and the weather. They're all discussed. The social outcasts, the wierd misfits, the kooks, the characters, and their schemes and dreams. It's all here, along with so very much more. Written by a longtime resident in a very entertaining style that combines dinner conversation with classroom lecture, this book will be a joy to anyone who has a love for the irreplacable experience of Living In Southern California. You will truly FEEL as though you are there. This book is one for the heart as well as the mind. Oh Los Angeles, how I miss you. Carey McWilliams, thanks for taking me back.


A Critical Contribution to Social and Economic History!   April 16, 1999
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

Originally published in 1946, McWilliams describes the socio-historical and economic formations of Southern California from the "bottom up" in a way uncharacteristic for his time period. He unveils the racist, eurocentric, environmentally devastating, materialistic and otherwise ruthless basis for the area's hegemonic culture, economy, and social relations. Moreover, he adds great insight into the incorporation of California into the world capitalist system. He covers the use, abuse, and devastation of various peoples in the area including Native Americans, Californios, Chinese, Japanese, Oklahomans and Mexicans. He also offers insight into the materialism or 'fake' culture which has emerged from the area only to exploit the cultures it has destroyed. The book is a bit long winded at times, but overall is a must read for anyone intersted in the topics I've described. It would be of interest to anyone who appreciates Almaguer's Racial Faultlines, Pitt's The Californios, or even Montejano's Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas.