The New York Times–bestselling history of the rise of California's wine country and its most famous vintners—from the author of Napa at Last Light.James Conaway's remarkable bestseller delves into the heart of California's lush and verdant Napa Valley, also known as America's Eden. Long the source of succulent grapes and singular wines, this region is also the setting for the remarkable true saga of the personalities behind the winemaking empires....

New Orleans is a city of contrasts, where beautiful nineteenth-century houses and slum apartments exist side-by-side in decadent harmony. As a reporter, Comiski knows all its moods and has covered some of the seamiest and raffish acts of life in The Big Easy. The cop house, the morgue, the racetrack are his beat, and following it he stumbles into the barely imaginable.Trouble begins with the discovery of a headless corpse. A prosperous and respectable black man named Parks had died...

James Conaway knew there was something wrong with his father before he let himself think too deeply about it.The signs were there, in unfocused phone calls and cryptic letters. Then on a reporting trip to his hometown Conaway had to face facts: his father was in the early stages of Alzheimer's, a dreaded illness that inspired this beautifully written memoir of family and the South. As memory left his father, the author was moved to recreate the world they had shared, memory being the bulwa...

This book takes us on an exhilarating trip through the American West that few people ever see. It begins with with a city-bound writer for the Washington Post who looks at a map and wonders what's out there in the empty places. A third of what lies beyond the Rocky Mountains, the most beautiful and rugged "land nobody owns" is the government's. He quits his job, outfits a van, and takes off.He soon discovers that this nation-with-a-nation -- the "kingdom" -- is a refuge for idealis...

The politics, organized crime, and affluence of the new South come together in World's End, a parish below New Orleans where the continental United States slides into the Gulf of Mexico. World's End abounds in oil, racial diversity, and political control as subtle and as absolute as that of a Latin American caudillo. It is bossed by the O'Neills, original Irish settlers in the lower Mississippi Valley. The dynasty is now in the hands of Rory O'Neill, whose patriarchal authority is reminisc...

The New York Times bestselling author of Napa tells the captivating story of how the Napa Valley region transformed into an extraordinary engine of commerce, glamour, and an outsized version of the American dream—and how it could be lost—in “a strong plea for responsible stewardship of the land” (Kirkus Reviews).Not so long ago, wine was an exclusively European product. Now it is thoroughly American; emblematic of Napa Valley, an area ide...

A mixture of travelogue and personal narrative, James Conaway's smart, informative essays offer an insightful depiction of his journeys between Washington, D.C., and Big Sur, California, as he tries to understand what has become of the places, people, and traditions that were once so precious but have now been irreparably changed. Incorporating the voices of cowboys, real estate agents, activists, and many others, he raises vital questions about the merits of sprawling development and the ...

In a gorgeous wine valley in northern California, the economic downturn has put a number of dreams on hold. But not so for wine critic Clyde Craven-Jones, a man whose ego nearly surpasses his substantial girth. During a routine tasting in advance of his eponymous publication's new issue, he blindly samples a selection of Cabernets. To his confounded delight, he discovers one bottle worthy of his highest score (a 20, on the Craven-Jones-on- Wine scale), an accolade he's never before awarded...

Not so long ago, wine was an exclusively European product. Now it is thoroughly American; emblematic of Napa Valley, an area idealized as the epicenter of great wines and foods and a cultural tourist destination. But the romanticized accounts you find about it and its denizens is not what you’ll encounter in James Conaway’s candid book.Napa at Last Light exposes the often shadowy side of the latter days of Napa Valley—marked by complex personal relationships, immense profits, passi...