Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era

Americans and the California Dream #2

by Kevin Starr

This second volume in Kevin Starr's passionate and ambitious cultural history of the Golden State focuses on the turn-of-the-century years and the emergence of Southern California as a regional culture in its own right. "How hauntingly beautiful, how replete with lost possibilities, seems
that Southern California of two and three generations ago, now that a dramatically diferent society has emerged in its place," writes Starr.

As he recreates the "lost California," Starr examines the rich variety of elements that figured in the growth of the Southern California way of the Spanish/Mexican roots, the fertile land, the Mediterranean-like climate, the special styles in architecture, the rise of Hollywood. He ives us a
broad array of engaging (and often eccentric) from Harrision Gray Otis to Helen Hunt Jackson to Cecil B. DeMille. Whether discussing the growth of winemaking or the burgeoning of reform movements, Starr keeps his central theme in sharp how Californians defined their identity to
themselves and to the nation.

"A delightful and extremely thorough chronicle of a state that is almost a mythical kingdom."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"An excellent book...vividly written, thoroughly researched, rich in details and alive with interesting, and sometimes incredible people."--Los Angeles Times

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, 20th Century, American History

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Kevin Starr was an American historian, best-known for his multi-volume series on the history of California, collectively called "America and the California Dream".

Reviews

[carl theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume 2 was published in 1985, 12 years after the first, mmm makes one wonder if the author originally envisioned a Dreamin' series?

Either way, I'm glad he continued, 'Inventing the Dream' focuses on Southern California. I found it more interesting reading as far as the time period and subject matter than the first.

Many of the personalities introduced in the first are replayed. I imagine that's because the book must stand on its own, the years covered do overlap a bit and they were published 12 years apart.
Unless you read the books one after the other, you probably will welcome the refresher.

Amongst the interesting events are the inevitable historical dry parts such as how many oranges were shipped east, however the author seems to sense when that is happening and throws in a compelling
line about a salacious scandal, a murder or two, a fellow eaten by alligators, or a quirky bit of trivia.

I found these sections particularly interesting:

Pasedena & the Seco-Arroyo: Greene & Greene bungalows, Stickly furniture, Huntingtons, Arroyo culture - (the simple life, the author notes,'takes lots of cash')

Citrus - reformed and saved CA agriculture, the making of the Sunkist, Blue Diamond and Sun-Maid brands, the growth of the wine industry

Banking - the description of the 1900 public's contentious relationship with banking would fit right in today!

The Southern Pacific Monopoly and the politics around it.

The gold rush-like start of Hollywood.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I’ve been waiting for. In the second volume, Starr trains his analytical eye toward Southern California and the explosive growth of Los Angeles. This was a period of turbulent change in the state of California – the progressive and temperance movement followed by salacious 1920’s Hollywood. It was a pleasure learning about the lives of people and companies whose names I see on the road every day – Wilshire, Rodeo, Royce Hall, Beverly Hills.

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starr's histories of California are well-written and interesting. This volume focused almost exclusively on Los Angeles, with some forays into the Central Valley and San Francisco; the previous book was almost all about San Francisco. Kevin Starr deeply explores the idea of LA/Hollywood as a dreamy ideal, and how that evolved over time from the Mission Revival phase to the last chapters, about the beginnings of the movie industry and Hollywood. I was hoping for a somewhat different angle for research purposes--more specifics about physical changes and expansion--but it remained an intriguing read.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in Starr's series on the history of California, the idea of California, and Californian identity. This book focuses on the Progressive Era and introduces us to the major figures of that era and especially the birth and growth of Los Angeles, the agricultural transformation of the state, and the dawn of Hollywood. A little easier to read than the first one, although the era was slightly less interesting, and I was eager to get to the 1920s.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better organized than the first volume, the book treats the era in Southern California topically, particularly in chapters on the origins of agribusiness, Progressive political reforms and the movie industry. I missed the ¨Notes¨ section, because his ¨Bibliographic Essay¨ is pretty dense, and am happy to see that they will return in the third volume.

[Zack]

Starr's writing, at least in this book, is unique. He focuses a lot on individual people, books, and films--often not household names, and how they fit into and embody larger historical trends. It makes for an interesting read. Sometimes though, there's a bit too much detail. It's good book for anyone interested in the subject matter.

[Carl Palm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Starr is my favorite California historian and his work was long an important resource for my in my own writing about the state. In Inventing the Dream he takes another deep dive into the complexities of the California experience, this time into the Progressive era of the early 20th century. As in his other books about California, the range of reference here is nothing short of amazing, all of it woven together into one smooth, easy-reading narrative. Inventing the Dream is yet another spellbinding part of Starr’s amazing “Americans and the California Dream” series (part 2) and takes the reader on a trip well worth the taking.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starr writes history that combines straight forward "who, what, when" facts with digressions into literary criticism and pyschologlogical speculation. This is a blend that is quite apt for California, and I have found volume one and two to be rewarding.
Starr (who is also the state librarian for California) also includes excellent essays on his sources for each chapter, which makes further reading a snap! For example, after reading his first volume "Americans and the Californian Dream", I read "The Octopus" by Frank Norris and "Two Years Before the Mast" by Dana.

This book covers roughly the same time period as the first volume, and there is some overlap. After all, there wasn't THAT much going on in California from 1850 to 1900. However, while the first volume focuses almost totally on Northern California, this volume focuses almost totally on Southern California.

And by Southern California, I mean Los Angeles, with a little bit of Riverside thrown in. As a native of San Francisco and a current resident of San Diego, I simply couldn't believe at how little San Diego county came in for mention. Again, I'm hesitant to label this as a criticism, since I did love the book, but I just wonder what San Diego did (or didn't do) to get left out.

Starr spends ample time covering pre-American Southern California history. He charts the development of California agriculture, talks about the "Craftsman" movement and, as his wont, spends entire chapters talking about the artists and boosters of the time. Personally, after reading this book I have resolved to read at least one book of Mary Austin.

Towards the end of this volume Starr dishes out a hefty dose of the history of the Progressive movement in California. His essay on sourcing for this chapter reveals a penchant for the works of more traditional political history writers, and I felt like this chapter was kind of "eh."

His final chapter is on the growth of Hollywood. I don't feel like he adds anything to the voluminous literature on this subject, but hey, this is a survey of California history, and I suppose he had to include it.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. If you are more interested in Southern then Northern California, you may want to skip the first volume and proceed directly to this one.

[Marty Seaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Inventing the Dream" offers a comprehensive view of California from the 1850's to the Progressive Era. Generous coverage of Southern California reveals great stories in some of its most influential characters that helped turn a pristine landscape into a booming economy and point of destination for Easterners in search of new challenges and endless opportunities.

Hollywood and the film industry serve as the emphasis for this book's final chapters. And there is in these ending chapters one story of Olive Thomas that I wonder about. In fact checking his account of her death, I found that most versions of her untimely death at the early age of twenty-five are attributed to her accidentally ingesting a bottle of mercury bichloride that was prescribed for her husband's bout with syphilis. Mr. Starr claims that she committed suicide and that it was most likely linked to an overdose of heroin. All accounts mention heavy drug use, however, mostly cocaine. Also, Mr. Starr seems to infer that the suicidal theory is one that was sanctioned by the Parisian police at that time, when again most accounts hold that the police determined that the death was accidental.

[Spiros · Rating 5 out of 5]

A companion volume to AMERICANS AND THE CALIFORNIA DREAM, which focused on the development of Northern California, this book traces the early, post-conquest history of the Southland, culminating in the turn of the century rise of the Progressive movement, its collapse, and the birth of Hollywood. Starr thoroughly explores the Progressives, a movement of Protestant, Midwestern, xenophobic Chamber of Commerce types (James Phelan, the Progressive Mayor of San Francisco, was an exception to all of those characteristics), who briefly wrested political control of the State from the Southern Pacific dominated oligarchy which exerted full control over the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. The movement brought the State direct voting in primary elections; it also brought us the initiative process, the referendum process, and the recall provision. Welcome to the mess in which we find ourselves now.

[Diane Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

sometimes i wonder how i could not have read these books when i lived in CA -- how could i not have known. for years i hard about the waterfront strike - "shoulder to shoulder" but it wasn't until this series that i put it together. and the california arts and crafts movement - i had seen it as CA's version of England and yet it was so part of the georgraphy, geology, climate - it was california

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another detailed book on the history of California. Bit by bit I am gaining more in depth perspective of my state. This book spanned the turn of the last century through the early 1920's. Of particular interest to me was the begining of the movie industry in Hollywood and the craftsman period in Pasadena and the Arroyo. I think Kevin Starr's books would be of most interest to Californios.

[Jon Boorstin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Starr is the pre-eminent chronicler of the California adventure. He has a remarkable command of the many hopes and desires that have driven us for the past century and a half, and he shares them with perceptive intelligence. This particular volume of his multi-volume work explores the moment that shaped the California we live in now. A fine way to get a sense of who we are, and why.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kevin Starr is personally responsible for turning me into a history buff. Anyone growing up in LA in the 50s needs to read this book to dispel all the myth and nonsense about the "glamour" of Hollywood etc. It's really a fun read and full of great pictures too.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an interesting approach to telling the story of California from the still Spanish-inflected 19th century through the heady early days of silent Hollywood. Will definitely use the last two chapters as introductory texts for my class in the spring!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit dry. not nearly as compelling as the first volume of this history.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is rather like a history being "one damned thing after another," but it's a subject that interests me, and I have no real quarrel with bunches of facts.