| The Far Side of Eden: New Money, Old Land, and the Battle for Napa Valley | 
 enlarge | Author: James Conaway
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 810754
Format: Audiobook
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 0618067396
Dewey Decimal Number: 979.419
UPC: 046442067393
EAN: 9780618067398
ASIN: 0618067396
Publication Date: October 24, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
James Conaway picks up the story begun a decade ago in his earlier book about Napa Valley, the premier American wine country and a place synonymous with the good life. By now the struggle over the valley's future has grown sharper and its success more glaring. Awash in dollars generated by the boom economy of the 1990s and the social ambitions it inspired, Napa is beset by too much of a good thing: new arrivals determined to have a vineyard of their own despite the fact that available land is running out, cult-wine producers in thrall to fabulously expensive "rocket juice" (cabernet sauvignon) that few locals can afford, established families wishing to hold on to the old ways, and camp followers caught up in the glamour of it all.
What has transformed a natural and agricultural beauty spot into a coveted global destination has left inevitable scars, and a small, impassioned band of environmentalists determine to resist further change. Alarmed by the wholesale felling of trees to make way for vines, the diminishment of the Napa River, and the decline in the health of the watershed, they strike back in a way rivets the valley and strongly divides the valley between those in favor of unbridled economic development and those insisting on limits.
Written by the author the New York Times credits with "a Saroyan-like sense of humor and and Balzac-like eye for detail," The Far Side of Eden takes us to the frontlines of America's ongoing conflicts about money, land, and power to tell a tale that has ramifications for us all.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Refreshing and to the point March 27, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
James Conway cuts to the chase in new money vs established money in a battle for land in Napa Valley. Detailed stories of conflicts between new money mentality of expand at any cost and old money in keeping things in check.
Good story lines. I hope James returns with an updated book as this was written in 2002 and much has changed since.
 Well written??? October 14, 2003
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Reading the other reviews, I cannot help but shake my head in astonishment...."Well Written"??? Ideas move in and out of paragraphs with no real logical flow of ideas. Few dates are presented to help the reader follow the timetable (which is likely because the scenes are re-sequenced for dramatic effect). I am an avid reader of literature, but found myself constantly rereading passages to try and decipher the idea being presented or the scene being described. I finally decided that the editor either gave up or never tried. Much of the book reads more like a stream of consciousness than a documentation of events witnessed by the author.Furthermore, this book is an amalgam of ad hominem attacks on everyone who dares to make money in the wine industry. Those with family money are dismissed as "lucky spermers" unless like, Peter Mennen, they use their money to stop big business. Mennen is portrayed as the noble hero but seems to be more a naive idealist. Certainly, there are forces of good and bad in any capitalist industry, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Ending vineyard development would lead to one of two things - more houses in place of vineyards or higher and higher prices for vintners as the scarcity increased their profits. Certainly, there is a middle ground yet Conaway, by following the bull-headed extremists, would have us believe that there can be no compromise. Check this book out from the library if you must read it, but support more even-handed works with your dollars.
How can he type with a massive chip on his shoulder? October 3, 2003
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a book for people who hate Starbucks and complain incessantly about gentrification (while drinking expensive boutique coffee and loving the appreciation in their real estate). After reading half of it I got tired of the constant pot-shots and nasty, one-sided characterizations and had to put it down. I'm not clear on who the author approves of, but he's clearly against anyone who lives, builds, or conducts business in Napa Valley -- plus anyone crass enough to actually visit for a weekend and enjoy the place. If you are a part of the Napa community then you might enjoy the gossipy anecdotes in this book. If you are a hard-core, disgruntled environmentalist then you might find validation for your views. But if you are just interested in the region and land issues in general then you'll find a pissy, overblown screed that irritates more than it informs.
Sometimes the Truth Hurts August 11, 2003
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
As a Napa resident and former winemaker, I can say that this book truly pulls back the curtains to expose the overinflated egos that are rapidly transforming our valley into just another trendy, overpriced tourist trap.It is a much more entertaining and accurate read than Kolpan's Sense of Place which basically parrots Coppola's publicity agent's "approved" history. This is a must have book for anyone interested in what goes on behind the scenes in the Napa Valley.
 Some interesting points, but heavily biased January 11, 2003
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
As a former Napa vinter, I eagerly looked forward to reading Conway's excursion into my home county. While there are interesting ideas in the book, they lurk beneath the soil like potatoes, never springing forth to see the light of day. Many of my neighbors (and, I should add, close friends) are presented in this book as gross parodies; this, I suppose, might be expected from an outsider to the region, but I had a difficult time getting past these rough characterizations.
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