Fool’s Gold isn’t a good book. It’s actually an incredibly frustrating and anger inducing read. And that’s not because it’s badly written or sloppy, but mostly because, as a citizen of California, I can attest to many of the horrible things Crabtree describes, leading what should be one of the best states in the nation to be the absolute worst.
For years I’ve hated living here (and cannot leave due to many extrinsic factors) so the fact that someone else (who actually happens to be from the same hometown of Redlands) writes about all the issues leading to this state being so terrible only furthers the argument that California sucks.
Within only 250 pages or so, Crabtree annihilates Great and Glorious Gavin, our esteemed and highly regarded governor, tearing him apart with such beautiful abandon, highlighting all his shady dealings, from working hand in hand with communist China, to surrounding himself with no less that 20 various political individuals who have either been investigated for white collar crimes or full on been found guilty of them, to his draconian lockdown mandates during the peak of COVID. Unlike others out there, Crabtree isn’t afraid to bring all of God Emperor Gavin’s faults to the forefront, baring his multiple failures and unflinching ability to have no shame about them.
And it’s not just Newsom that Crabtree brings to light. From corrupt senator Adam Schiff, to Kamala Harris, the DA, and failed Democratic presidential candidate, who didn’t do a damn thing during her tenure as the highest legal voice in the state, as well as the multiple failures and outright apathy from PG&E and their handling of their own affairs, it’s all within the pages of this book.
And believe me, I had every intention of giving
Fools Gold a 5 star rating due to its subject matter and the way Crabtree holds nothing back, yet this book very quickly becomes incredibly repetitive to the point of redundancy. Crabtree mentions the same issues and ideas multiple times per chapter and then decides to mention them again in other chapters. It’s as if she thinks her readers are forgetful (and if they’re anything like the majority of moderately conservative people who have to begrudgingly reside in the state…we aren’t). Acronyms are explained over and over again, and the history of the corrupt players in our government are also told over and over again. One glaring example of this is the infamous “French Laundry” incident. Not being facetious when I say it is probably mentioned at least once in every one of this book’s 9 chapters, each time trying to detail the situation with the exact same set up and information. There were moments that I found myself skipping through chapters just to see if reading the same things lead to a different outcome in respect to the chapter. Unfortunately, most of the time it didn’t.
Regardless, Fool’s Gold does need to be commended for its unflinching expose on a state that has become a true cluster and has no hope of redeeming itself unless Newsom and the rest of his cabal of “progressive” lunatics gets the ax…which, based on the way things are going when 10 new counties turned red in the last election…could be something possible on the horizon.