The exhibit was astounding - this museum is HUGE! The works of art featured are very diverse, both in theme, style and culture. The book really is a nice tribute to this grand exhibition. Any Californian who likes both popular art and "marginal" or underground art would be satisfied with this book.

Finally, an expansive and critical, although bewildering, survey of California's visual culture and its impact on American culture at large! Beautiful in its design and generous in illustrations, the catalog offers insight into the complexities of America's "wild frontier." What makes this catalog/exhibtion most intriguing is its inclusion of ephemera, framed by the organizers as important historical and cultural documents of life in California. Often overlooked, these items are often more telling than the cultural productions of visual artists and offer interesting juxtapositions to the art also presented. In addition to the discourse between hi and low culture, is the discussion of the cultural and racial diversity of California's population and its effect on culture and identity. The writers and curators bring together important documents, visuals, and art that construct diverse racial, gender, and sexual identities and also offer critical insight to these.

I love this book. I lived in California for 10 years and became totally enchanted by it. This book brings back pleasant memories of sites, sounds, and smells from the Golden State. The total sensory experiences of the Sierra foothills covered with wildflowers in the spring, the ocean's edge at Big Sur, the hills above San Louis Obispo, the sierras in the summer, and many others come flooding back while browsing this book. My only complaint is its size. These images deserve a big coffee-table style book.