Under the Influence: California’s Intoxicating Spiritual and Cultural Impact on America

Since California is often equated with Hollywood, the state’s culture can often seem more fantasy than reality. Author Ganas, a professor at California’s Azusa Pacific University, is a former actor, director, and producer, so she has the unique perspective of an insider who is also spiritually grounded. The author knows the California culture, both popular and societal, and she provides the intellectual means for digging beneath its superficial glamour and finding something of spiritual substance. When appropriate, the author integrates movie, television, and literature references, but she also leans heavily on scripture scholar Walter Brueggeman and author Evelyn Waugh. Ganas utilizes all these sources to raise important queries regarding community, criticizing California culture for promoting disconnection among people. She also turns her sights on the California approach to weddings and funerals and its almost religious worship of the automobile, using those subjects as stepping stones for fascinating inquiries into religious and spiritual truths connected to these practices. Helpful insights, indeed, especially for those who believe that as goes California, so goes the U.S. (June)