"With the publication of
Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963, Kevin Starr has completed his transformation from the state's greatest historian to its indispensable one.... His eight-volume series, published under the umbrella title
Americans and the California Dream, constitutes as comprehensive a social, political, ethnographic, cultural and philosophical history as any state is ever likely to achieve. It was conceived in dazzling ambition and masterfully executed. The author's scholarship and erudition animate each volume without once falling into the trap of self-regard. It is, in sum, an achievement made even more remarkable by the fact that it is wonderfully readable."–Tim Rutten,
Los Angeles Times"This final volume is of the same high quality as the previous ones: spirited in style... [a] wonderfully readable descriptive history...."–
Publishers Weekly"Monumental."–Benjamin Schwarz,
The Atlantic"Starr's masterly accounts of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco."–
The Economist"Who besides Kevin Starr could cover the entire social, economic, political and artistic history of California during the era and somehow extrapolate it into an engaging, dazzling account of the emerging American Century."–Phyllis Filiberti Butler,
San Francisco Chronicle"Starr's magnum opus-eight volumes to date, and still not complete- will endure the test of years, not least for its heft and its dogged ambition. Students of California history-of the history of the American West generally-have no choice but to confront this impressive oeuvre penned over decades by the State Librarian of California Emeritus, now a professor at the University of Southern California."–
Books & Culture"Kevin Starr's
Golden Dreams...is marvellously cohesive and concise, and Starr's engaging style makes it a pleasure to read." –
Times Literary Supplement Online"Without parallel. Each volume in the series demonstrates again that this is one of the commanding achievements of American letters, and of the state he celebrates." –
Western American Literature
