imperial
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An epic study of an emblematic American region by one of our most celebrated writers
It sprawls across a stinking artificial sea, across the deserts, date groves, and labor camps of southeastern California, right across the Mexican border. For generations of migrant workers, from Okies fleeing the Dust Bowl of the 1930s to Mexican laborers today, Imperial County has held the promise of paradiseÃâand the reality of hell. It is a land beautiful and harsh, enticing and deadly, rich in history and heartbreak. Across the border, the desert is the same but there are different secrets. In Imperial, award-winning writer William T. Vollmann takes us deep into the heart of this haunted region, and by extension into the dark soul of American imperialism.
Known for his penetrating meditations on poverty and violence, Vollmann has spent ten years doggedly investigating every facet of this bi-national locus, raiding archives, exploring polluted rivers, guarded factories, and Chinese tunnels, talking with everyone from farmers to border patrolmen in his search for the fading American dream and its Mexican equivalent. The result is a majestic book that addresses current debates on immigration, agribusiness, and corporate exploitation, issues that will define AmericaÃâs identity in the twenty-first century……..
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2009-11-20
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
California’s Imperial County covers deserts, date groves, and more – it draws right across the Mexican border and generations of migrant workers have roots and history tied to the county. This weighty study of Imperial County offers an unprecedented survey of not just the county but the social issues involved in illegal immigration and border issues, considering the county’s early history, its challenges, its descent into poverty, and its immigration history and connections with Mexico. Never has another county been given such thorough historical and social analysis, making IMPERIAL a ‘must’ not just for California collections, but for any library strong in immigration issues.
2009-10-12
By las cosas (Ajijic-San Francisco)
I wrote and rewrote my review of this book (in my head) endlessly as I read this book. Often that mental drafting served the purpose of venting, since after about page 300 my partner made it clear she was tired of hearing how annoying I found the book. “Stop reading it or stop telling me about how much you dislike the book.” Fair enough. But I did want to finish the book, and despite my great annoyance I now want to track down a copy of his 7 volume treatise on violence.
I have for years wanted to like Vollmann’s writing. But after a few pages I always give up, and am annoyed at myself (and Vollmann). Imperial is a subject that interests me, so I decided this was the book I would read all the way through. And I did, including the source section. This is the only review I’ve written where I could envision writing a review, in all sincerity, with a 1 or 3 or 5 star rating (though I detest the requirement of assigning a numerical “grade” to a review). So here are a few reviews for this book.
One star – why is this classified as nonfiction?
Think of a student assigned a paper called “describe the various social, economic and natural forces currently faced by Imperial County, California.” My student heads to the library, wanders through the stacks and lodged between Ellis Island and the peopling of America : the official guide and California state register and year book of facts (at least in my library) is a 2.5″ thick bright red book spine with one word “Imperial.” My student opens the book at random to chapter 88, which reads, in its entirety:
I can’t believe in people. Did you ever consider them as machines-machines that make eggs? And in material advantages they are already well supplied.
Why, I would be sick to my stomach if a rode down that valley in California, over those long miles owned by one man. He sold out at a fancy price. Imperial County shows rapid increase. The constant threat of heavy shipments…seemed to be a depressing factor. I am willing to give a good deal of credit to the new methods of retail food stores.
Because of market conditions in 1934, the equivalent of 300,000 crates of lettuce were unharvested in the Imperial Valley. She’s dancing with someone else, the bitch!
“Let’s face it Bill. Investigative reporting is not really your strong suit.” [page 922]
Five star – persons interviewed: 120, bibliography includes an impressive quantity of primary sources, he visited the area for a decade in order to assemble the research. And as every reviewer feels the need to say…it is over 1,100 pages! (I was touched by Brianna Lusk’s unusual candor in saying “despite the local buzz generated from the book’s publication…the Imperial Valley Press was unable to track down a local resident who has finished it.”)
Three star…
He writes very well, is endlessly earnest, and is willing to search almost endlessly (or at least a decade) to uncover more elements (though not necessarily facts…and again, this purports to be a nonfiction book) of what he considers to be Imperial. But this is one of the most snarky books I have ever encountered! In a footnote the author asks if the book would be better if he were more cynical. Frankly I can’t imagine how the book could possibly be more cynical. It is simply that he uses a quirky method to display this cynicism. As the book progresses Imperial does also, mainly through increased irrigation, and then the progress stops and Imperial slides backwards, mainly because of water issues. This is told in a pastiche of stories using historic photos, public records and interviews. But interspersed through these is a continual repetition of sentences such as “I have never been cheated out of a dollar in my life” to shadow all of his “facts” in a deep cynicism.
This is an author with a massive axe to grind. We are told several times during the book that he started Imperial, or the idea of Imperial, as a novel. On page 1116 we were finally told what we already know very well, which is that “I began my as yet unwritten novel by hating Los Angeles.” By hating urban, by hating the rich, by hating, hating, hating the INS. The list is exceedingly long of the things he hates in this book. But with a couple of exceptions, he doesn’t say that. Instead he provides you with a large set of “photos” describing a geographic area. But what he chooses to describe, and the photo-montage he creates with those descriptions speaks as strongly to what he leaves out of the descriptions as what he includes.
I also found it annoying that he has written a study, history, whatever that purports to describe both the Mexican and United States portions of Imperial. Annoying because the author speaks not a word of Spanish. I find this incredible. And if that isn’t insulting enough to Mexico, he then uses as an early interpreter a homeless guy who not only smells but calls the Chinese Mexicans he talks to “gooks.” Are we surprised that none wish to have anything to do with this “interpreter” and the author?
2009-09-20
By N. Swindell
This book had a point, to share the disintegration and sad state of Imperial County, Ca. However, the author rambles, babbles, and goes on in such a disjoined fashion, that the book is a tedious, torturous, tiresome read. Totally disappointing, am donating my used book to Goodwill.
2009-09-10
By Joseph N. Stennett (New York)
A gush of words and facts that, like desert irrigation, at first
produces impressive results, but cannot be sustained in the long
run. And one thousand pages of this stuff is a very long run.
2009-08-12
By Kevin Clark (Cincinnati)
I understand Vollman’s strategy but this book fails in this form. Some chapters are one sentence long and convey no information whatsoever. Some are many pages yet equally convey no information. Some convey a lot of information which may or may not be true. Vollman is the sloppiest researcher I have ever read. Any other author would have pared this down to a 500 page book, and it would have been great. As a Southern California resident I enjoy a lot of this book, such as the chapters about the formation of the Salton Sea, but the size and scope force one to skip a lot. People edit books for a reason.
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