COAST OF DREAMS: California on the Edge, 1990–2003

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)