Fool's Paradise

by McWilliams, Carey; Gendar, Jeannine; McWilliams, Wilson Carey; Brechin, Gray; Stewart, Dean

• ISBN13: 9781890771416
• ISBN10: 1890771414
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-10-01
• Publisher: Heyday Books

Summary

Carey McWilliams (1905-1980) -- lawyer, activist, historian, editor of The Nation for two decades -- wrote the history of California as no one else could, or would. Alternately scathing, amusing, and disturbing, his sharp and literate accounts shatter the myths meant to obscure the real workings of the state, revealing always the relationship between the exploited and those who would exploit them.

Readers will find that McWilliams's writing on history and the issues of his day is still relevant -- in fact, it is the basis for the field that we now call California studies

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Foreword	ix
Wilson Carey McWilliams
Introduction	xix
Gray Brechin
MECCA OF THE MIRACULOUS
The Growth of a Legend	3	(14)
Mecca of the Miraculous	17	(14)
Sister Aimee	31	(4)
``God Will Slap You Cockeyed''	35	(4)
The Folklore of Earthquakes	39	(4)
The Politics of Utopia	43	(36)
THE POLITICS OF EXCLUSION
The Lynching of Juanita	79	(6)
The Long-Suffering Chinese	85	(14)
The Joads at Home	99	(8)
Exodus from the West Coast	107	(32)
Storm Signals	139	(8)
THE ABUSE OF POWER
Water! Water! Water!	147	(18)
The Wheatland Riot	165	(10)
The Pattern of Violence	175	(18)
Blood on the Pavements	193	(16)
THE PRACTICE OF POLITICS
Strange Doings in California	209	(4)
The Education of Evans Carlson	213	(8)
Mr. Tenney's Horrible Awakening	221	(6)
Bungling in California	227	(4)
The Old Fresno Magic	231	(2)
The Kennedys Take Over	233	(4)
Has Success Spoiled Dick Nixon?	237	(6)
The Politics of Personality	243	(2)
Mr. Nixon and the Press	245	(2)
How to Succeed with the Backlash	247	(6)
Paradise Reagan-ed	253	(10)
AFTERWORD
Living in Five Worlds	257	(6)
Permissions	263