In this extraordinary book, Kevin Starr–widely acknowledged as the premier historian of California, the scope of whose scholarship the Atlantic Monthly has called “breathtaking”–probes the possible collapse of the California dream in the years 1990—2003. In a series of compelling chapters, Coast of Dreams moves through a variety of topics that show the California of the last decade, when the state was sometimes stumbling, sometimes humbled, but, more often, flourishing with its usual panache.

From gang violence in Los Angeles to the spectacular rise–and equally spectacular fall–of Silicon Valley, from the Northridge earthquake to the recall of Governor Gray Davis, Starr ranges over myriad facts, anecdotes, news stories, personal impressions, and analyses to explore a time of unprecedented upheaval in California. Coast of Dreams describes an exceptional diversity of people, cultures, and values; an economy that mirrors the economic state of the nation; a battlefield where industry and the necessities of infrastructure collide with the inherent demands of a unique and stunning natural environment. It explores California politics (including Arnold Schwarzenegger’s election in the 2003 recall), the multifaceted business landscape, and controversial icons such as O. J. Simpson.

“Historians of the future,” Starr writes, “will be able to see with more certainty whether or not the period 1990-2003 was not only the end of one California but the beginning of another”; in the meantime, he gives a picture of the place and time in a book at once sweeping and riveting in its details, deeply informed, engagingly personal, and altogether fascinating.

"This behemoth of a book continues Starr's extraordinary multivolume history of California. Not since Toynbee's or the Durants' universal histories has a seven-volume history of anything been essayed and more or less completed, and no other American state has ever been the subject of such attention. But where Starr's previous volumes had the quality of reflective scholarly distance, this one — about California in recent years — is more journalistic reportage than history. As a result, it's neither as satisfying nor as authoritative as its predecessors. It's really reminder history — an attempt to recall to readers' minds the record of every significant event and development that Starr has scooped up from the news since 1990. But he offers no synthesis because he can't — we're too close to the events he records. So, with the author's characteristic verve and propulsive style, we get chapters on, for example, demographic trends, governors, notorious trials, gangs, the major cities, architecture, gay culture, the surfer scene — scarcely anything is left out. The trouble is, there's also no thematic spine to the book. We're left with a smorgasbord offering of the Golden State — delicious but not, like Starr's previous volumes, a digestible, integrated meal. 16 pages of photos not seen by PW. Agent, Sandra Dijkstra. (Sept. 20)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Unfailingly interesting and highly readable. Starr brings his magnificent multivolume series, the product of a quarter-century of work, up to the present." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"Essential for all collections on California and the West and highly recommended for all academic and public libraries." Library Journal

"[I]n recounting how Californians have tested their utopian blueprints against reality, Starr illuminates ideals and exposes pipe dreams that will matter to readers all across the country." Booklist (Starred Review)

In this extraordinary book, Kevin Starr — widely acknowledged as the premier historian of California — probes the possible collapse of the California dream and the beginning of another in the years 1990-2003.

Kevin Starr is University Professor of History at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. From 1994 to 2004, he served as the state librarian for California. His writing has won a Guggenheim Fellowship and gold and silver medals from the Commonwealth Club of California. He divides his time between San Francisco and Los Angeles.