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Coyotes and Culture: Essays from Old Malibu
What do coyotes have to do with culture?
This unique collection of essays offers a gripping exploration of the precarious beauty and peril of California’s iconic coastline. Through essays blending personal narrative, cultural analysis, and history, author Claire McEachern takes us behind the scenes of surf and celebrities to paint a vivid portrait of life on the edge —both literally and metaphorically. From the rugged Santa Monica Mountains to the shimmering Pacific, this work captures the paradoxes of Old a place of luxury and risk, natural splendor and ecological vulnerability.
As an East Coast academic married to a fifth-generation Californian cowboy, McEachern brings a wry yet tender lens to the modern American story, delving into what happens to love and community in a land of both devastating wildfires and extravagant wildflowers. Her reflections weave together questions of beauty, resilience, and humanity’s uneasy relationship with nature, creating an unforgettable narrative of place and survival. Readers drawn to the drama of human stories set against larger cultural and environmental forces will find this book both thought-provoking and deeply moving.
This unique collection of essays offers a gripping exploration of the precarious beauty and peril of California’s iconic coastline. Through essays blending personal narrative, cultural analysis, and history, author Claire McEachern takes us behind the scenes of surf and celebrities to paint a vivid portrait of life on the edge —both literally and metaphorically. From the rugged Santa Monica Mountains to the shimmering Pacific, this work captures the paradoxes of Old a place of luxury and risk, natural splendor and ecological vulnerability.
As an East Coast academic married to a fifth-generation Californian cowboy, McEachern brings a wry yet tender lens to the modern American story, delving into what happens to love and community in a land of both devastating wildfires and extravagant wildflowers. Her reflections weave together questions of beauty, resilience, and humanity’s uneasy relationship with nature, creating an unforgettable narrative of place and survival. Readers drawn to the drama of human stories set against larger cultural and environmental forces will find this book both thought-provoking and deeply moving.
199 pages, Paperback
Published September 16, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 6, 2026
This is a memoir written by a Renaissance literature professor at the University of California, LA after the Woolsey fire in November 2018 that impacted her family's property in Malibu. The property was owned and worked by her husband's family for 160 years. The author grew up on the East coast so many of the stories present an East coast vs West coast comparison. We learn about her family and her husband's family throughout the various stories. It is an ok book.
May 24, 2026
This book was so eerie. Practically every essay seemed to take the thoughts right out of my head and put them on paper. It was like reading my journals from my freshman year of college (though far more intellectual and meaningful).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews