Product Description

In the tradition of his New York Times bestseller, Napa, James Conaway picks up the story he began a decade ago. The Far Side of Eden offers "a fascinating look at the political side of the wine revolution that put California's Napa Valley on the world map" (Miami Herald). Now, Conaway reveals, Napa is awash in dollars generated by the boom economy and the social ambitions it inspired. The valley is beset by new arrivals determined to have vineyards of their own and by cult-wine producers in thrall to fabulously expensive "rocket juice" (cabernet sauvignon) that few locals can afford - while established families wish to hold on to the old ways, and camp followers get caught up in the glamour of it all. Conaway, long known for his controversial, compulsively readable social reporting, here "indicts the wave of new-money millionaires from Silicon Valley, who have brought with them gaudy displays of wealth -- building so-called 'McMansions' and planting 'vanity vineyards'" (Los Angeles Times). "A cautionary tale . . . [with] a seductive pull" (San Francisco Chronicle), The Far Side of Eden takes us to the frontlines of America's ongoing conflicts over money, land, and power to tell a story that has ramifications for us all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113049 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"If Napa Valley can't be saved, no place can," says the county planner, and Conaway's second volume on one of the wealthiest enclaves in America echoes this sentiment, picking up where his first (Napa: The Story of an American Eden) left off, with some overlap. Beautiful Napa in the 1990s is threatened by McMansions, by the blindness of "lucky spermers," (like the Mondavi heirs) and by the nouveau riche desire for boutique wineries with "rocket juice" (cabernet). The first third of the book describes the super-rich with incredulity: Francis Ford Coppola purchased the former Inglenook winery in the mid-1990s and outfitted it with the desk from The Godfather, movie memorabilia and screens for a "multimedia tasting experience." The Sweeneys, owners of Embassy Suites, dynamited to build their five-bedroom house (complete with feng shui) on a visible hillside. They don't flinch when locals complain. The center of the book is the Sierra Club's suit against Jayson Pahlmeyer (among others), whose now-cult wine appeared in the movie Disclosure, for clearing a hillside and violating the California Environmental Quality Act. The prose is often portentous and heavy on description; even minor characters are given full bios. Conaway uses a semifictional style to get into the characters' heads ("Hugh was pulled at by conflicting emotions"), while the author remains invisible, although his preferences are obvious. This is a who's who for anyone in the valley, a must-read for anyone in the business, and will be of interest to those invested in the often clashing interests of agriculture and the environment.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Conaway, the author of nine books and a contributor to Smithsonian and National Geographic Traveler, explored the subject of the Napa Valley a decade ago in his best-selling Napa: The Story of an American Eden. In his latest book, he carefully examines the invasion of Napa in the 1990s by the nouveaux riches who view vineyards as status symbols to be exploited for their social value. In an accessible style, Conaway offers an insider's view and shows how these newcomers are increasingly denuding the land in attempts to create vanity-label wines. Environmentalists and established valley dwellers are fighting the exploitation, but major damage has already been done in the form of polluted rivers and eroded hillsides. As Conaway rightfully concludes, Napa may never recover from the ravages wrought by the greed of the Silicon Valley wonder boys, the movie producers, and the other absentee landlords who now own much of the valley. This important and timely exploration of the ramifications of the unbridled power of the rich to do whatever they wish with America's land is highly recommended for all libraries.
Mary V. Welk, Chicago
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Thoughtful, compelling and graceful narrative...it's a story that Conaway tells well, with considerable passion but also with due objectivity." -- Review

Customer Reviews

Gulp This
Conaway's first book on the topic, "Napa, the Story of an American Eden," held a mirror to a beautiful place and the wonders of American winemaking. This sequel goes through the looking glass into a world of greed and self absorption, where a monoculture rapes land, trophy homes blight ridgetops, egos swell and rot like grapes too long on the vine.
Finely reported, elegantly written, "The Far Side of Eden" would be depressing -- if the tale weren't told with such wit and good humor. The hubris of winemakers like Pahlmeyer and Staglin and Copolla emerge as hilarious, the self-righteousness of both the winos and the ecos as ridiculous.
It's quite sad, and hugely funny.
I think this is an important book. It spotlights Napa, but it could be anywhere in America where riches come too fast and too much and the result is look-at-me-look-at-me development.
Read it slow, and let it breathe, it's a treat.

Some interesting points, but heavily biased
As a former Napa vinter, I eagerly looked forward to reading Conway's excursion into my home county. While there are interesting ideas in the book, they lurk beneath the soil like potatoes, never springing forth to see the light of day. Many of my neighbors (and, I should add, close friends) are presented in this book as gross parodies; this, I suppose, might be expected from an outsider to the region, but I had a difficult time getting past these rough characterizations.

Well written???
Reading the other reviews, I cannot help but shake my head in astonishment...."Well Written"??? Ideas move in and out of paragraphs with no real logical flow of ideas. Few dates are presented to help the reader follow the timetable (which is likely because the scenes are re-sequenced for dramatic effect). I am an avid reader of literature, but found myself constantly rereading passages to try and decipher the idea being presented or the scene being described. I finally decided that the editor either gave up or never tried. Much of the book reads more like a stream of consciousness than a documentation of events witnessed by the author.

Furthermore, this book is an amalgam of ad hominem attacks on everyone who dares to make money in the wine industry. Those with family money are dismissed as "lucky spermers" unless like, Peter Mennen, they use their money to stop big business. Mennen is portrayed as the noble hero but seems to be more a naive idealist. Certainly, there are forces of good and bad in any capitalist industry, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Ending vineyard development would lead to one of two things - more houses in place of vineyards or higher and higher prices for vintners as the scarcity increased their profits. Certainly, there is a middle ground yet Conaway, by following the bull-headed extremists, would have us believe that there can be no compromise.

Check this book out from the library if you must read it, but support more even-handed works with your dollars.