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“A fascinating portrait of activism deepened and sustained by Herculean labors of research and investigation.”—The Nation
Historian Kevin Starr described Carey McWilliams as "the finest nonfiction writer on California—ever" and "the state's most astute political observer." But as Peter Richardson argues, McWilliams was also one of the nation's most versatile and productive public intellectuals of his time.
Richardson's absorbing and elegant biography traces McWilliams's extraordinary life and career. Drawing from a wide range of sources, it explores his childhood on a Colorado cattle ranch, his early literary journalism in Los Angeles, his remarkable legal and political activism, his stint in state government, the explosion of first-rate books between 1939 and 1950, and his editorial leadership at The Nation. Along the way, it also documents McWilliams's influence on a wide range of key figures, including Cesar Chavez, Hunter S. Thompson, Mike Davis, screenwriter Robert Towne, playwright Luis Valdez, and historian Patricia Limerick.
Historian Kevin Starr described Carey McWilliams as "the finest nonfiction writer on California—ever" and "the state's most astute political observer." But as Peter Richardson argues, McWilliams was also one of the nation's most versatile and productive public intellectuals of his time.
Richardson's absorbing and elegant biography traces McWilliams's extraordinary life and career. Drawing from a wide range of sources, it explores his childhood on a Colorado cattle ranch, his early literary journalism in Los Angeles, his remarkable legal and political activism, his stint in state government, the explosion of first-rate books between 1939 and 1950, and his editorial leadership at The Nation. Along the way, it also documents McWilliams's influence on a wide range of key figures, including Cesar Chavez, Hunter S. Thompson, Mike Davis, screenwriter Robert Towne, playwright Luis Valdez, and historian Patricia Limerick.
Price: $34.95
Pages: 354
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
05 March 2019
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520304291
Format: Paperback
Peter Richardson teaches humanities and American studies at San Francisco State University. His books include A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America and No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead.
Foreword by Mike Davis
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 COLORADO
The Collapse
Chapter 2 INFINITE REVOLT
Life at the Times H. L. Mencken Law & Literature George Sterling
Provincial Life Mary Austin Making the Scene in Los Angeles
Dorothy Hedrick The Bierce Biography
Chapter 3 THE POLITICAL TURN
The Seeds of Activism The Great Depression Louis Adamic & Shadow-
America The “Anti-Fascist Phase” Labor Organizing Factories
in the Field
Chapter 4 PUBLIC SERVICE
The Writer as Bureaucrat Prelude to an Inquisition The War and
Japanese Internment Brothers Under the Skin Sleepy Lagoon
The Zoot Suit Riots The Tenney Committee
Once More the Japanese Evacuation
Chapter 5 THE GREAT EXCEPTION
An Island on the Land The Campaign Continues Brothers Under the
Skin—The Sequels The California Culmination A Savage and
Depressing Year Witch Hunt Surveillance & Its Discontents
Chapter 6 THE VILE DECADE
The Nation at War Leaving Los Angeles The Cold War Casualties
Defending Civil Liberties The Fall of McCarthy Carey McWilliams, Editor
Civil Rights Redux Curtain Calls in California
Chapter 7 THE AGE OF NIXON
Watching the Republicans The New Generation Back at the Ranch
Before the Revolution The New Left Vietnam The New Nixon
Living in the Ruins Summing Up
Chapter 8 MOVING ON
After the Nation The Reluctant Hero Illness
The Education of Carey McWilliams Back in California
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 COLORADO
The Collapse
Chapter 2 INFINITE REVOLT
Life at the Times H. L. Mencken Law & Literature George Sterling
Provincial Life Mary Austin Making the Scene in Los Angeles
Dorothy Hedrick The Bierce Biography
Chapter 3 THE POLITICAL TURN
The Seeds of Activism The Great Depression Louis Adamic & Shadow-
America The “Anti-Fascist Phase” Labor Organizing Factories
in the Field
Chapter 4 PUBLIC SERVICE
The Writer as Bureaucrat Prelude to an Inquisition The War and
Japanese Internment Brothers Under the Skin Sleepy Lagoon
The Zoot Suit Riots The Tenney Committee
Once More the Japanese Evacuation
Chapter 5 THE GREAT EXCEPTION
An Island on the Land The Campaign Continues Brothers Under the
Skin—The Sequels The California Culmination A Savage and
Depressing Year Witch Hunt Surveillance & Its Discontents
Chapter 6 THE VILE DECADE
The Nation at War Leaving Los Angeles The Cold War Casualties
Defending Civil Liberties The Fall of McCarthy Carey McWilliams, Editor
Civil Rights Redux Curtain Calls in California
Chapter 7 THE AGE OF NIXON
Watching the Republicans The New Generation Back at the Ranch
Before the Revolution The New Left Vietnam The New Nixon
Living in the Ruins Summing Up
Chapter 8 MOVING ON
After the Nation The Reluctant Hero Illness
The Education of Carey McWilliams Back in California
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index