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Fool’s Paradise

Carey McWilliams
Introduction by Gray Brechin
Foreword by Wilson Carey McWilliams

“It suddenly occurred to me that, in all the world, there neither was nor would ever be another place like this City of the Angels. Here the American people were erupting, like lava from a volcano; here, indeed, was the place for me: a ringside seat at the circus.” —Carey McWilliams, in Southern California Country

Carey McWilliams (1905-1980)—lawyer, activist, historian, and 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. His painstakingly researched accounts on topics ranging from racism to the intricacies of commerce, from farm labor to the cults of California, have opened the door for generations of writers and thinkers.

Carey McWilliams

Carey McWilliams (13 December 1905-27 June 1980) was an American author, editor, and lawyer. He is best known for his writings about social issues in California, including the condition of migrant farm workers and the internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II. For twenty years he was the editor of The Nation magazine.

Gray Brechin

Geographer and environmental historian Gray Brechin is a professor of geography at the University of California, Berkeley and is the author of several books, including Farewell, Promised Land: Waking from the California Dream (with Robert Dawson) and the recent Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin.

Wilson Carey McWilliams