Synopses & Reviews
James Conaway picks up the story begun a decade ago in his earlier book about Napa Valley, the premier American wine country and a place synonymous with the good life. By now the struggle over the valleys future has grown sharper and its success more glaring. Awash in dollars generated by the boom economy of the 1990s and the social ambitions it inspired, Napa is beset by too much of a good thing: new arrivals determined to have a vineyard of their own despite the fact that available land is running out, cult-wine producers in thrall to fabulously expensive rocket juice” (cabernet sauvignon) that few locals can afford, established families wishing to hold on to the old ways, and camp followers caught up in the glamour of it all.
What has transformed a natural and agricultural beauty spot into a coveted global destination has left inevitable scars, and a small, impassioned band of environmentalists determine to resist further change. Alarmed by the wholesale felling of trees to make way for vines, the diminishment of the Napa River, and the decline in the health of the watershed, they strike back in a way rivets the valley and strongly divides the valley between those in favor of unbridled economic development and those insisting on limits.
Written by the author the New York Times credits with a Saroyan-like sense of humor and and Balzac-like eye for detail,” The Far Side of Eden takes us to the frontlines of Americas ongoing conflicts about money, land, and power to tell a tale that has ramifications for us all.
Review
"A quite important story, emblematic of our time." New York Times Book Review -- October 20, 2002
New York Times Book Review Notable Book
"Thoughtful, compelling and graceful narrative...it's a story that Conaway tells well, with considerable passion but also with due objectivity." The Washington Post
Synopsis
In the tradition of his New York Times bestseller, Napa, James Conaway picks up the story he began a decade ago. The Far Side of Eden offers "a fascinating look at the political side of the wine revolution that put California's Napa Valley on the world map" (Miami Herald). Now, Conaway reveals, Napa is awash in dollars generated by the boom economy and the social ambitions it inspired. The valley is beset by new arrivals determined to have vineyards of their own and by cult-wine producers in thrall to fabulously expensive "rocket juice" (cabernet sauvignon) that few locals can afford - while established families wish to hold on to the old ways, and camp followers get caught up in the glamour of it all.
Conaway, long known for his controversial, compulsively readable social reporting, here "indicts the wave of new-money millionaires from Silicon Valley, who have brought with them gaudy displays of wealth -- building so-called 'McMansions' and planting 'vanity vineyards'" (Los Angeles Times). "A cautionary tale . . . [with] a seductive pull" (San Francisco Chronicle), The Far Side of Eden takes us to the frontlines of America's ongoing conflicts over money, land, and power to tell a story that has ramifications for us all.
About the Author
James Conaway, the author of nine previous books, is a contributing editor for Preservation and a regular contributor to Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, and Food & Wine magazines, among many others.
Table of Contents
contents Prologue 1 i A Vineyard of Ones Own 5 ii Passion on the Land 95 iii Divide and Fall 177 iv Turtle Island 257 Epilogue 363