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The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California
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The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California

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This item is a recurring or deferred purchase. By continuing, I agree to the cancellation policy and authorize you to charge my payment method at the prices, frequency and dates listed on this page until my order is fulfilled or I cancel, if permitted.

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A vivid, searching journey into California's capture of water and soil—the epic story of a people's defiance of nature and the wonders, and ruin, it has wrought.

Mark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers, a writer with deep ties to the land who has watched the battles over water intensify even as California lurches from drought to flood and back again. In The Dreamt Land, he travels the state to explore the one-of-a-kind distribution system, built in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, that is straining to keep up with California's relentless growth.

The Dreamt Land weaves reportage, history and memoir to confront the "Golden State" myth in riveting fashion. No other chronicler of the West has so deeply delved into the empires of agriculture that drink so much of the water. The nation's biggest farmers—the nut king, grape king and citrus queen—tell their story here for the first time.

Arax, the native son, is persistent and tough as he treks from desert to delta, mountain to valley. What he finds is hard earned, awe-inspiring, tragic and revelatory. In the end, his compassion for the land becomes an elegy to the dream that created California and now threatens to undo it.

Details:
Paperback
576 pages
5" x 8"

We are committed to lowering our impact on the planet by using eco-friendly, plastic-free packaging materials. We also embrace the power of recycling and often give old packaging a second life; as a result, your items may arrive in a reused package.

This purchase builds habitat.
Proceeds from every purchase in the TPF store support our nonprofit programs such as Adult Education, California Native Plant Landscaper Certification, Native Plant Garden Tour, Seed Conservation and much more. Your support makes the work we do possible! 


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