West of the West Imagining California [Paperback]

Conceived as a novelistic journey through the worlds of California,West of the Westoffers a vivid and diverse collection of writings on the state where extremes of every sort are dramatically evident in the weather, geography, and people. This richly fascinating collection represents the experience of California both physical and metaphysical, in fiction, poetry, essays, travel writing, confessions, reportage, and social criticism. The authors are native Californians, born-again Californians, exiles, ?migr?s, critics, and visitors of every kindJack Kerouac, Joan Didion, Amy Tan, Simone de Beauvoir, Carey McWilliams, Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Octavio Paz, Jean Baudrillard, Ishmael Reed, Allen Ginsbergto name just a few.

Leonard Michaelsis the author ofThe Men's Club.David Reidis editor ofSex, Death and God in L.A.(California, 1994).Raquel Scherris coauthor ofFace Value: The Politics of Beauty.

CONTRIBUTORS:
Carey McWilliams
Juli?n Mar?as
Vincent Bugliosi
David Thomson
Ben Hecht
Michael Wood
Gore Vidal
Stephen Bach
Irene Oppenheim
Leonard Michaels
Jean Baudrillard
M. F. K. Fisher
Octavio Paz
Jane Vandenburgh
Tom Wolfe
Danny Romero
Randall Sullivan
Mary Austin
Simone de Beauvoir
Henry Miller
Jack Kerouac
Robinson Jeffers
Linda Niemann
John Steinbeck
Gertrude Stein
Clarence King
Joan Didion
Richard Rodriguez
Rudyard Kipling
Frank Norris
Maxine Hong Kingston
Herb Caen
Kenneth Rexroth
Ralph J. Gleason
Allen Ginsberg
Mario Savio
Warren Hinckle
Stanley Booth
Henry Bean
Ren?e Lieberman
Raquel Scherr
Maya Angelou
Gretel Ehrlich
Amy Tan
Gary Soto
Ishmael Reed
Randy Shilts
Thom Gunn
Theodora Kroeber
Czeslaw Milosz
Shiva Naipaul
James D. Houstonl³: