The fifth volume in Starr's grand and wide-ranging history of
California (Endangered Dreams, 1995, etc.). Drawing on a wealth of
sources, the author offers a panoramic account of the Golden State
during the turning-point years before America's entry into WW II.
While he first surveys communities (Big Sur, Carmel, Palm Springs,
Pasadena, et al.) whose affluent lifestyles not only survived the
Depression but also set the pace for the rest of the country, Starr
moves on to profile the West Coast's academic enclaves (Berkeley,
Palo Alto, Westwood) and great cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, San
Francisco). Covered as well are those who contributed to
California's rich cultural heritage in literature (Cain, Chandler,
Hammett, and West, to name but a few), painting (notably, the
federally subsidized muralists who recorded the past of "the state
with a Mexican accent"), and photography (Ansel Adams, Edward
Weston). Not too surprisingly, Starr devotes considerable attention
to Hollywood and how its studio system marshaled the artistic
resources of a generation to help America (and the wider world)
through hard times. In an engrossing chapter felicitously titled
"Ich Bin ein Su??dkalifornier," he recounts how the rise of the
Third Reich induced scores of German actors, composers, writers,
and other intellectuals to seek refuge from Nazi oppression in
filmdom's capital, where they promptly and thoroughly Europeanized
the motion-picture industry. Using this productive context as a
departure point, the author closes with a somber assessment of the
ways in which California's emigre communities dealt with a global
outbreak of anti-Semitism and (with fellow exile Leon Feuchtwanger)
pondered whether Jewish civilization could reconstitute itself. A
penetrating addition to an altogether splendid series, which
(thanks to the broad appeal of its subject matter and period) could
prove a breakout book. (Kirkus Reviews)
In this fifth volume of Starr's history of California life and culture, the focus is on the positive aspects of California life during the 1930s -- especially how the state developed a style of life that would greatly influence American society as a whole.
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