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CALIFORNIA

California

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Essential Reading

Item EXCAL116. Buy these 5 items as a set for $84 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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California, A History

California, A History

by Kevin Starr

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

A lively short history in the excellent Modern Library Chronicles series, written by a renowned historian. (CAL204, $14.95)

Assembling California

Assembling California

by John McPhee

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

Another fine book on geology and natural history from John McPhee, this time in the company of Eldridge Moores, on travels throughout California. (USW187, $16.00)

California the Beautiful

California the Beautiful

by Galen Rowell

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 159 PAGES

Rowell's exquisite photographs are accompanied by excerpts from Joan Didion, M.F.K. Fisher, Jack London, William Saroyan and many other luminaries in this celebration of the nature and spirit of California. (CAL277, $19.95)

Eyewitness Guide California

Eyewitness Guide California

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 660 PAGES

A literate, visually rich guide to the Golden State, featuring color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a region-by-region synopsis of California's attractions with a particular focus on San Francisco and Los Angeles. (USW146, $30.00)

California Map

by Borch Maps

  • 2008
  • MAP

A laminated, folded map of California, shown at a scale of 1:1,100,000. (CAL55, $9.95)

 
Fodor's Los Angeles' 25 Best

Fodor's Los Angeles' 25 Best


by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

A shirt-pocket guide to Los Angeles, this slim book includes an excellent map of the center of the city and essential information on its highlights. (USW186, $12.99)

The Measure of Her Powers, An M.F.K. Fisher Reader

The Measure of Her Powers, An M.F.K. Fisher Reader


by M. F. K. Fisher

  • FOOD
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

A fat, judicious selection of M.F.K. Fisher's writings, which spanned a lifetime and chronicled adventures (culinary and otherwise) in France, Switzerland and Italy, on shipboard and in her native California. (CUL01, $21.95)

A Journey into Steinbeck's California


by Susan Shillinglaw

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2011
  • PAPER

This part art book, part biography, and part travel guide offers insight into how landscapes and townscapes influenced John Steinbeck's creative process and how, in turn, his legacy has influenced modern California. (CAL317, $24.95)

Angle of Repose

Angle of Repose


by Wallace Stegner

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 592 PAGES

A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of one man's search for his grandparents' story. It beautifully weaves the history of the American West and a glimpse of their life in California, Colorado and Idaho. (USW301, $16.00)

East of Eden

East of Eden


by John Steinbeck

  • LITERATURE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 602 PAGES

Steinbeck's story of two families in rural California, and the violent fates that befall them. Covering the period from the Civil War to World War I, this story of connected families is a retelling of the early chapters of Genesis. (USW152, $17.00)

L.A. Confidential

L.A. Confidential


by James Ellroy

  • LITERATURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 496 PAGES

James Ellroy's modern noir thriller, a densely plotted yarn in the style of Raymond Chandler. Made into a critically acclaimed film. (CAL35, $14.99)

San Francisco, A Cultural History

San Francisco, A Cultural History


by Mick Sinclair

  • LITERATURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

Organized more thematically than chronologically, this easy-to-read introduction to the city and its neighborhoods will appeal both to first time visitors and those who know and love the city. (SFO20, $15.00)

Stories from Where We Live, The California Coast

Stories from Where We Live, The California Coast


by Sara St. Antoine | Paul Mirocha | Trudy Nicholson

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 248 PAGES
  • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)

A young traveler's literary companion to coastal California. (CAL94, $10.95)

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep


by Raymond Chandler

  • LITERATURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 231 PAGES

The classic crime novel from the master of the genre. Here is a journey into the dark underworld of 1930's Los Angeles. (CAL17, $14.00)

The Golden West, Hollywood Stories


by Daniel Fuchs

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

This marvelous collection of stories and essays from Sunny California, many originally appearing in The New Yorker and Commentary, capture the spirit (and personalities) of Hollywood in the heyday of the studio era. (CAL188, $16.95)

Travelers' Tales San Francisco

Travelers' Tales San Francisco


by James O'Reilly | Larry Habegger | Sean O'Reilly

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 496 PAGES

Experience San Francisco from the inside out with this engaging, insightful and entertaining selection of mostly contemporary eyewitness reports -- a terrific literary profile of a dynamic city. (SFO15, $18.95)

Cadillac Desert, The American West and Its Disappearing Water

Cadillac Desert, The American West and Its Disappearing Water


by Marc Reisner

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 582 PAGES

A definitive history of water development in the American desert -- and a now-classic chronicle of wrong-headed policies and misadventures controlling the great rivers of the West. (USW246, $18.00)

Field Guide to Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast

Field Guide to Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast


by Sarah G. Allen | Joe Mortenson | Sophie Webb

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 624 PAGES

Sophie Webb, director of Oikinos, contributes the exquisite paintings for this outstanding field guide, the 100th in the California Natural History Guides series, perfect for the Sea of Cortez. (PNW279, $24.95)

National Audubon Society Field Guide to California

National Audubon Society Field Guide to California


by Peter Alden

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

A compact, easy-to-use guide to 1,000 of California's trees, wildflowers, mammals, insects, birds and other flora and fauna. (CAL07, $19.95)

More Recommendations

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.