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Inlandia: A Literary Journey Through California's Inland Empire
Cultural Writing. Fiction. Poetry. Essays. INLANDIA puts a new literary region on the map. A land of dramatic landscapes and increasingly dynamic human developments, the Inland Empire is becoming much more than just "the area east of Los Angeles." As tract homes creep over desert areas once thought uninhabitable, the population of the region-comprised of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties-has roughly doubled in the last twenty years and is expected to do the same in the next twenty, making it one of the fastest growing regions in America. Unique in its own history and a microcosm of America at large, it is a land of startling racial, socio-economic, and ideological diversity that has long produced innovative and passionate writing. INLANDIA is a fascinating study of the journey of a people bound by geography yet striving for self-identity and artistic recognition, and of a land that is becoming both more prosperous and endangered. Over eighty writers are represented in the anthology, with material ranging from Indian stories and early explorers' narratives to pieces written by local emerging authors.
433 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 10, 2020
A luscious collection from a special unique place, spanning its years and generations.
Inlandia.
“That might be the story of Riverside. Trying to fit in with the big boys by accommodating their oversized posteriors.
...
That's how we say it. We say, 'This is a horsey area.'
...
That means go slow. We have feed stores and tack shops and desert, a really beautiful desert. It's the desert that has me here in 909.
Technically, the Badlands is chaparral. The hills are filled with sage, wild mustard, fiddleheads and live oaks. Bobcats, meadowlarks, geckos, horned lizards, red tailed hawks, kestrels, coach whip snakes, king snakes, gopher snakes. Rattlesnakes and coyotes. We don't see rain for seven months of the year and when we do we often flood. In the spring, the hillsa re green. They are layered and gorgeous. This is in contrast to the rest of the year when the hills are brown and ochre and layered and gorgeous.
~ 909, Percival Everett in Gayle Wattawa, Inlandia: A Literary Journey Through California's Inland Empire
Inlandia.
“That might be the story of Riverside. Trying to fit in with the big boys by accommodating their oversized posteriors.
...
That's how we say it. We say, 'This is a horsey area.'
...
That means go slow. We have feed stores and tack shops and desert, a really beautiful desert. It's the desert that has me here in 909.
Technically, the Badlands is chaparral. The hills are filled with sage, wild mustard, fiddleheads and live oaks. Bobcats, meadowlarks, geckos, horned lizards, red tailed hawks, kestrels, coach whip snakes, king snakes, gopher snakes. Rattlesnakes and coyotes. We don't see rain for seven months of the year and when we do we often flood. In the spring, the hillsa re green. They are layered and gorgeous. This is in contrast to the rest of the year when the hills are brown and ochre and layered and gorgeous.
~ 909, Percival Everett in Gayle Wattawa, Inlandia: A Literary Journey Through California's Inland Empire
July 28, 2008
This book brought me to places I haven't been to in the Inland Empire and brought me back to some I HAVE been to.
The excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath was particularly familiar because I'd read that book long ago when I still lived in Minnesota and had never heard of the Inland Empire. On one of my first visits there, I travelled through the Cajon pass and suddenly recognized it from the passage in The Grapes of Wrath.
Beforewarned that not all of the pieces in this book are complete. It's a real mixed bag of poetry, novel excerpts and short stories and ranges from many styles and eras. But you get a good "slice of life in the desert." And now I have more books to add to my reading list. :)
The excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath was particularly familiar because I'd read that book long ago when I still lived in Minnesota and had never heard of the Inland Empire. On one of my first visits there, I travelled through the Cajon pass and suddenly recognized it from the passage in The Grapes of Wrath.
Beforewarned that not all of the pieces in this book are complete. It's a real mixed bag of poetry, novel excerpts and short stories and ranges from many styles and eras. But you get a good "slice of life in the desert." And now I have more books to add to my reading list. :)
June 8, 2012
This anthology was fascinating to read, as I have had a hard time finding people who are proud enough of the Inland Empire to lay claim and write about it.
I didn't know Joan Baez grew up in Redlands, or that so many crime scenes have their setting in the San Bernardino mountains! My favorite passage was the essay by Joan Didion, in which she recounts the tale of a death in suburban San Bernardino.
I want to research more about the Chinese history and displacement in Riverside, which was touched upon in several stories, but never fully explained in this anthology.
I didn't know Joan Baez grew up in Redlands, or that so many crime scenes have their setting in the San Bernardino mountains! My favorite passage was the essay by Joan Didion, in which she recounts the tale of a death in suburban San Bernardino.
I want to research more about the Chinese history and displacement in Riverside, which was touched upon in several stories, but never fully explained in this anthology.
January 14, 2017
Incredible book about the Inland Empire (The I.E.). If you ever lived or spent time in this area of Southern California, this is a "must read" if you want to understand why and how So. Calif is the way it is today. I grew up in San Bernardino, CA. It was my home from 1949 to 1972 when I was pushed out of my hometown by the crippling and deadly smog and the lack of career and educational opportunities. Filled with essays, fiction, and poetry, I absolutely love this book so much that I sent a copy of the introduction to several of my family and friends who also grew up in the I.E.
March 12, 2021
A model of the form for regional writing, with examples famous, forgotten, obscure and original. Didion, Steinbeck and Chandler are here, and so are poets, essayists, short story writers and others, representing various cultures who've called the area home. This anthology deepened my understanding of the two-county area and provides breadcrumbs we can follow. (After the two chapters excerpted from "The Lady in the Lake," I bought a copy.)
April 16, 2008
This book is writings from people who live in the Inland Empire or about the Inland Empire. I'm reading this because i'm in English 1B at Chaffey College and this book is Chaffey's book of the year. Some of them are really interesting and others are a waste of time. I gave it 4 stars because I learned a ton about the place I grew up. Also it isn't from a Christian stand-point so there is some raunchy stuff in it.
March 24, 2007
Intelligent, enlightening. Learned the significance of some common or well-known names and areas, learned more about the area I've lived in for most of my life.
November 5, 2007
an anthology with a beautiful range of voices that winds its way through several gateway desert communities
November 5, 2009
A great view of the culture, lives, and personal insights of many influential writers, scholars, and local persona's of the inland valley area.
August 26, 2012
Read for my English class. A surprisingly interesting and heartfelt collection of excerpts, shorts stories, poems and non-fiction involving the Inland Empire.
February 14, 2016
This is a mix of fiction and nonfiction, from authors famous and obscure. It covers a large and varied area from high to low, and centuries in time.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews