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From the acclaimed author of The California Field Atlas and The State of Fire, a mind-expanding manifesto on belonging to the land called California.
For more than 250 years, the story of California has been told through conquest, self-reinvention, novelty, and riches. Beneath that mythology lies another reality: the erasure of Native histories, the exploitation of natural systems, and a deepening separation between people and place. As climate breakdown intensifies and natural disasters escalate, bestselling author Obi Kaufmann challenges us to see the Golden State anew—not as a commodity or fantasy, but as a living, interconnected world.
With wonder and urgency, California Inside Out reflects on the boundless intricacies of the world that surrounds, prompting bold, imaginative questions: What words might connect us more deeply with the places where we live? What if a watershed can think? What if a forest has a mind of its own? Across five chapters full of wisdom and heart, Kaufmann shares poignant personal stories and ecological insights from five decades of life in California. Illustrated throughout with his signature watercolor artwork drawn from across Kaufmann's celebrated career, this naturalist's treatise is a call for awe and action.
Praise for the California Field Atlas (2017) and the California Lands Trilogy (Forests/Coasts/Deserts) by Obi Kaufmann:
"Obi Kaufmann’s books are like bibles to me." —Dave Eggers
"A gorgeously illustrated compendium." —Sunset
"A call to action … full of beautiful watercolor renderings of both landscape and data." —Los Angeles Times
"Swirls research with poetry, the personal and human with the collective and ecological." —Mother Jones
"[A] must-read." —7x7
As a reader you are invited to join [Kaufmann] on a journey of discovery—not as a passenger but as an active partner." —San Francisco Chronicle
"[Kaufmann's] approach helps to encourage a love of place, which is often the first step toward wanting to protect and preserve it." —American Scientist
"Every California household should have a copy of the 608-page atlas" —San Jose Mercury News
Praise for The State of Fire by Obi Kaufmann (2024):
Kaufmann's writing and illustrations comprise a deeply researched philosophical exploration focused not just on the current moment but on refashioning understanding and California's ecosystems to support thriving generations to come." —High Country News
Pair with writer Manjula Martin’s 2024 memoir, The Last Fire Season, for a visceral-plus-visual understanding of what it is to love the natural world and to live alongside fire, itself an essential part of that world." —Hyperallergic
And as fire becomes more and more recognized as a part of California's ecosystems, Kaufmann's book may be a valuable guide for the future." —Earth Island Journal
"Through mapping fire habitats, [Kaufmann] points the way toward a more harmonious relationship with fire by sharing a vision that combines traditional ecological knowledge, scientific innovation and land management." —PBS SoCal
Obi Kaufmann is the author of The California Field Atlas (2017, #1 San Francisco Chronicle Best Seller), The State of Water (2019), The Forests of California (2020), The Coasts of California (2022), The Deserts of California (2023), and The State of Fire (2024), all published by Heyday. When he is not backpacking, you can find the painter-poet at home in the East Bay, posting trail paintings at his handle @coyotethunder on Instagram. His speaking tour dates are available at californiafieldatlas.com, and his essays are posted at coyoteandthunder.com.
One—Remembering and Reinventing California’s Origin Story
Existential California / the California Floristic Province / the emptiness of nature vocabulary / why poetry means so much / ecological philosophy / traditional ecological knowledge / covenants on the land / climate history
Two—California Is Fire
The stages of grief and the nature of change / the grand instigator / megafauna, megafire, and the ubiquity of fuel / successional cycles / adaptivity and dependency / fire truths
Three—The Meaning of Birds
When animals were people / the meaning of archetypes / stories as ecology / services versus gifts / the California Flyway / harmony / intelligence and aesthetic theory / remembering and loneliness
Four—Thinking Like a Watershed
The ecological body / globalization denied / water infrastructure / people and objects / the metaphysics of water / legislating life / personhood / respect and survival
Five—The Mind of the Forest
Theory of mind / disturbance and homeostasis / awareness in the old growth / unrecoverable loss of habitat spaces / fungal cosmologies / conscious space as a wave in the mind
Acknowledgments
Quotations from Recommended Reading
About the Author