State of the Arts: California Artists Talk about Their Work

Not overly heavy or philosophical. Light reading that is fun and offers insight to art on the West Coast. Essays aren't the best quality or well thought out but offer a "first impression" kind of feel. Feels very spontaneous. Good for curious readers.

This is a wonderful book about the most complicated state in America, California. The voices representing it are diverse, and strong, and a picture emerges of the Golden State that is as rich and varied as the State itself. David Hockney has been profoundly influenced by the lavish spectacle of this sun-splashed state. Carolyn See illuminates with her incisive, uniquely wry voice. John Rechy's take on the physicality and spirituality of a profound Los Angeles is worth the price of the book. Even those who have abandoned it--lots of rationalizations about that--are heard, like Joan Didion and her husband, who long for the state they left, substituting the sun and the easy, exhibitionistic narcissism for the hard-core reality of New York. There's a wealth of fresh observations, like Luis Valdez's, and there's even a typically laconic entry from Clint Eastwood, who is--surprise, surprise--not entirely profound. But overall the voices are strong, assertive--and, indeed, the Golden state emerges as a powerful state of the creative arts, original artists commendably impossible to label.