California is to America what America is to the rest of the world.
Howard Ogden

After reviewing many books, I (Paul Heller, California Tour Guy) have selected what I believe are the best books for travelers interested in learning about the culture, history, politics, economy, and sights and sounds of the Golden State.

At their best, these books provide grist for engaging conversations. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my comments about the books and links listed on this site or if you know of any books, links, or quotes that should be listed on this website but aren't.  I promise to post your comments on the blog.

 TRAVELOGUES AND MEMOIRS

California in General

A Walk Along Land's End: Discovering California's Living Coast
John McKinney

A Walk Along Land's End is a powerful, intimate, and ultimately satisfying portrait of one man's walk along the California coastline. McKinney is at his best when he sprinkles with informative tidbits about the natural history of the state and details the interesting characters that he meets along his journey. Occasionally, the book veers into a political diatribe against the ravages of man on California's environment. While I understand the sentiment, as a lover of California's rich architectural and cultural heritage, I find these diatribes annoying and distracting. However thankfully these diatribes are short (except when he talks about his campaign against the Diablo Canyon Power Plant near San Luis Obispo) and McKinney more than makes up for the discretion by excellent research and writing.

California Dreaming: A Smooth Running, Low Mileage, Best-Priced American Adventure
Lawrence Donegan

On the surface, California Dreaming is a funny and entertaining look at a Scot trying to acheive his slice of the American pie by working as a used car dealer at the height of the dot.com boom in Silicon Valley. On a deeper level, however, it is an insightful and even affectionate look at the underside of the American dream. While most readers like Donegan will be repelled by the shady dealings of the used car industry (Donegan's story of the car salesman who changed the gear cover of a car to convince a buyer that he was buying a five-gear rather than four-gear clutch is a classic), we can't help but like (and even reluctantly admire) the colorful cast of characters in the book.

Written in 1982, Californians has evolved into a minor classic for good reason. No one else has weaves such a complete, affectionate, and readable account of modern California. Houston intersperses an encyclopedia of interesting factoids in between compelling and revealing portraits of California. Many writers have tried to capture California's diverse regions by using interviews, yet only Houston has been able to pick such representative interviewees without veering into stereotypes. A must read!

Mad Monks' Guide to California
James Crotty and Michael Lane

I really enjoy the offbeat, irreverant style of this guidebook.  Crotty and Lane offer two things I have always wanted to find in a guidebook but couldn't until they came along:  1) a sense of how quirky and diverse the Golden State is and 2) an opportunity to get to know guidebook writers as real people with their own unique voice.  They also manage to keep the good features of the best of more traditional guidebooks: a carefully compiled listing of places to visit combined with a great set of sidebars that glory in tons of juicy California trivia.

A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate
Marc Reisner

Provocative, alarming, and realistic, this book will help you realize that all of the East Coast fears (and hopes) that parts of California may disappear, have sadly a grain of truth.  Sensitively written by Reisner just before his death, this book is much more than a mere compellation of the horrors that may befall California.  It is, instead, a clarion call for the State to pay attention to, and respond quickly to, the threats that may cause its potential demise.

Northern California

Blues City: A Walk in Oakland
Ishmael Reed

While there is a plethora of books that try to dissect Los Angeles and San Francisco, it is rare to find books that plum the depths of the rest of California. Thankfully, Reed has helped bridge this divide in the Blues City. By the time you finish reading this book, you'll get a robust view of one of my favorite, hidden corners of California -- Oakland. Reed pulls no punches here. He takes on Jerry Brown's divisive, pro development policies while divulging the tumultuous, unseemly early history of the City. Yet, even though critical, it is clear that Reed loves Oakland and wants to inspire others to view this oft-maligned city in a new, more well-rounded way.

Napa
James Conaway

While most tourists think of the Napa Valley as a delightful place to sip some wine, buy gourmet food, and enjoy sybaritic spa treatments, the Napa that Conaway detailed within these well-written pages is an entirely different place.  In Conaway's capable hands, we learn about the scandals, in-fighting, and skeletons that helped form this unique place.  Though reading this book at times feels like watching a Falcon Crest rerun, it leaves an indelible view of Napa that will forever remain etched in your mind.

Time Off: The Unemployed Guide to San Francisco
Dean LaTourette and Kristine Enea

I love this book.  It takes what for many San Franciscan denizens is the most traumatic event of the last five or so years (the high unemployment rate left in the wake of the dot.com bust) and gives it a whole new spin.  No longer does one need to look at unemployment as a curse, following LaTourette's detailed suggestions for sightseeing, volunteer, and other activities, you might even find that unemployment is a blessing.  Best of all, even if you are happily ensconced in a good job, Time Off is the best guide out there for finding ways to travel-like-a local in your backyard.

Southern California

Los Angeles: People, Places, and the Castle on the Hill
A.M. Homes

Often it seems as if a mini-industry has been created around books written by Easterners who sneer at Southern California. While occasionally New Yorker, AM Homes does engage in this sniping, as a whole, Los Angeles: People, Places, and the Castle on the Hill is actually a rather poetic and well-crafted look at this complex metropolis. Homes' choice of interview subjects at first glance seems to be the typical cast of characters (an earthquake specialist, an aging celebrity, and a maitre d') employed by Easterners to sneer at LA. However, Homes makes these character into living beings with brain and heart. She has also created one of the most unusual protagonist anywhere -- Chateau Marmont, an aging, eccentric, and highly likable hotel which has played host to hundreds of Hollywood's illuminati.

Sex, Death, and God in LA
David Reid

Editor David Reid collected one of the best anthologies about the life, culture, and history of Los Angeles I've ever seen.  Though I read this book almost a decade ago (it was written in 1992) I still recall some of the poignant essay about Los Angeles in this book (Carolyn See's essay on melting represents the most poignant essay on immigrant life in LA, I've ever seen).  A great read even today (I would love to read an updated version of these essays since LA has changed a lot in the last 14 years). 

Tours for Free: California (Southern California Edition)
Jodi Jill

I must admit when I first saw this book, I almost went into hysterics. I thought, "oh s--- someone has published my book."  However, I realized that thankfully it is much different than my book.  Jill has specifically selected tours that are free and good for children (in addition many of the tours are self guided).  My upcoming book covers guided tours in both Northern and Southern California for adults (though many would be fine for children).  It also is quite different in its format and voice.

That said, I am glad that Jill wrote this book.  I think it provides a useful, well-written, and enjoyable compendium of places to tour in Southern California.  Her facts and information really bring some of my favorite places in Southern California to life. 

Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream
Sam Stagg

 I am a big fan of the 1950 classic Sunset Boulevard.  I have watched the movie at least a half dozen times and consider seeing the soundstage at Paramount film studios where Norma Desmond meets Cecil D. Demille in the film as one of favorite moments in my many hours of California tour-going.

As a fan, I devoured every page of this book.  I loved reading the backstory about how the film was created, the myriad stories about the film's great actors (I really enjoyed reading how Gloria Swanson tried and succeeded (thank God) in making Norma Desmond a somewhat likeable tragic figure rather than just a mean-spirited bitch), and about the genius behind the film, Billy Wilder.

From the most entertaining introductory chapters of any book I've ever read (Lupe's response, during her 50th anniversary renewal of her vows ceremony, when the priest asks if she'll "love, honor, and obey her husband" is a classic) to the satisfying conclusion, I relished every page of this emotionally gripping, lovingly crafted story of Villasenor's larger-than-life parents.

By the end of this book, I felt like I had been given a real gift -- an insiders'  view on the life of the Mexican-American community and a inspiration peak at truly likeable people trying to make a living in a dangerous and criminal profession (moonshining) in the hardscrabble early days of the 20th century.  One of my favorite books of all time!   

Where We are Now: Notes from Los Angeles
DJ Waldie

As one of the few Angelenos without a car and a city planner (and lifelong resident) in one of LA's most seemingly mundane suburbs (Lakewood), Waldie provides a truly one-of-a kind and acutely accurate perspective on all things related to the Big Orange.  I learned many new facts (I did not, for example, that LA has the least mileage of freeways per-capita of any major American metropolises) and gained a whole new appreciation for life in the suburbia in my favorite metropolis. 

A great book helps you to see something you thought you knew well in a new light.  By this definition, Where We are Now is a truly great book.

Written in the 1940s, no other book provides such a wealth of information about life in Los Angeles before World War II.  I learned so much about Southern California from this book (which I first read over twenty years ago) that I frequently pepper stories from this classic into my conversations about Los Angeles even today. Reading this book plunges into heart and soul of Southern California of yore like no other book. 

McWilliams is everything a city biographer should be -- sensitive, insightful, and thorough.  I would love to find such a fabulous book about San Francisco (though Grey Brechin's book do come fairly close).

A great read -- well researched, compassionate, and riveting.  While ostensibly just about life, history, and culture of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles's most celebrated suburb, Among the Mansions of Eden provides valuable insights into the runnings and character of gilded suburbs and resorts -- like Palm Beach and Grosse Pointe-- throughout our land.  It is also a penetrating and ultimately unforgettable look at the underside of the Hollywood and the American Dream.  

Los Angeles: Capital of the Third World
David Rieff

Written in 1992 by a New York Times reporter, this book does a surprisingly effective and compassionate job of explaining how Angelenos view themselves.  Mirroring the halcyon, optimistic days of Los Angeles prior to the disastrous 1992 riots, Rieff also portrays a city precariously balanced by a tide of economic, political, and social change.  A well balanced and highly readable book, which I love to see updated to reflect life in the city today.

• I have attended over 250 tours of California and am authoring an upcoming book called: Seeing Gold: A Guide to Hundreds of Tours of California's Best Museums, Neighborhoods, Factories, Architecture, Historic Homes and Lighthouses (Anticipated Release Date: Spring 2007).
• I am also the founder of The Big Blue Marble, a travel seminar and publication company dedicated to teaching travelers venturing outside of the US with useful and inspiring tips and stories to help them travel more cheaply, safely, and meaningfully.
• In addition to this list, I have also prepared a list of tours, blog commentaries, and tips for enjoying these tours.