California Gothic explores the California dream and its dark inversion as a nightmare, as illustrated in fiction, poetry, and film. California began as a literary invention, a magic island, in a Spanish romance before conquistadors first visited the land. From early days to the present, the California dream of happiness in a land of new beginnings has been maintained by suppression of disturbing realities: above all, the destruction of native peoples; and by events and facts such as the tragedy of the Donner Party, the persistence of poverty and crime in the golden land, disturbing crimes such as the Black Dahlia; and pandemics and ecological disaster. This book explores a rich Gothic tradition that exposes the repressed past and imagines the fates awaiting a failed California.

Series statement from author's Material dreams. Bibliography: p. 460-479.

A vivid, searching journey into California's capture of water and soil—the epic story of a people's defiance of nature and the wonders, and ruin, it has wrought Mark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers, a writer with deep ties to the land who has watched the battles over water intensify even as California lurches from drought to flood and back again. In The Dreamt Land, he travels the state to explore the one-of-a-kind distribution system, built in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, that is straining to keep up with California's relentless growth. The Dreamt Land weaves reportage, history and memoir to confront the "Golden State" myth in riveting fashion. No other chronicler of the West has so deeply delved into the empires of agriculture that drink so much of the water. The nation's biggest farmers—the nut king, grape king and citrus queen—tell their story here for the first time. Arax, the native son, is persistent and tough as he treks from desert to delta, mountain to valley. What he finds is hard earned, awe-inspiring, tragic and revelatory. In the end, his compassion for the land becomes an elegy to the dream that created California and now threatens to undo it.

This edition is graced by a new foreword by Lewis Lapham.

Courageously stepping into charged terrain, this book casts a clear light on globalization and terrorism for what they are, not what some may wish them to be. Jamal R. Nassar carefully defines these twin concepts, placing them in historical as well as political context. Woven throughout the book is his central theme of the migration of dreams and nightmares. As some are able to take advantage of the opportunities of globalization, leaving others behind, they leave behind a legacy of unrealistic dreams. These unfulfilled hopes of the poor and oppressed often transform themselves into nightmares for the wealthy and powerful. This vicious cycle, the author argues, is often enhanced by globalization and effected by terrorism. Focusing on the key case studies of Palestine and Northern Ireland, Nassar applies their lessons to other examples of conflict including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Congo, Chechnya, and Colombia in order to internationalize our understanding of how globalization and terrorism operate in a range of situations. He also devotes a chapter to Islamist terrorism in a tour de force of incisiveness and balance. This book considers globalization and terrorism not only from the perspective of the major powers, but also introduces the views of those dominated by forces beyond their control. Yet even as the author offers a profound critique of Western hegemony, he conveys respect and hope for an enlightened global interdependence—embracing the power of the dream over the nightmare.

The American Dream turned into a nightmare when the housing bubble burst, and people have been trying to figure out who to blame- Greedy bankers? Corrupt politicians? Ignorant homeowners? In American Nightmare: How Government Undermines the Dream of Homeownership, Randal O'Toole explores the forces at play in the housing market and shows how we can rebuild the American dream of homeownership by eliminating federal, state, and local policies that distort the free market for housing.