Americans and the California Dream, 1850-1915

Highly readable....The book is full of surprises, it is constantly challenging....A fine performance. * Pacific Historical Review *
[Starr] is bringing much to Western social and literary history. * American Historical Review *
One devil of a fine book, a book only a native Californian could write...about the Inner Life of California, the psychic landscape that emerges from the works and ways of her writers, both native and self-adopted. The result is a mature, well-proportioned and marvelously diverse (and diverting) study. * The New York Times Book Review *
A very important book. * Joseph H. Krause, California State University, Long Beach *
Indispensable...Starr's book does for California what Henry Nash Smith's 'Virgin Land' did for the opening of the West: it demonstrates how idea, myth, misconception and hope shaped and often distorted a developing society. * Los Angeles Times *
A vivid portrayal of the rich and varied intellectual forces which helped shape one of our most distinctive regional cultures. * St. Louis Post-Dispatch *
An exceptional work, both in thought and magnitude....Both scholars and laymen will find this volume a worthwhile addition to their libraries. * History: Reviews of New Books *
A highly original inquiry into the interplay of vision and event.' * Virginia Quarterly Review *
A captivating narrative that documents the importance of myth and imagination in attracting Americans to California before World War I. * R.H. Limbaugh, University of the Pacific *