Imperial Hardback - 2009

by William T. Vollmann

An epic study of an emblematicAmerican region by one of ourmost celebrated writersIt sprawls across a stinking artificial sea, across thedeserts, date groves, and labor camps of southeasternCalifornia, right across the Mexican border. For generationsof migrant workers, from Okies fleeing the DustBowl of the 1930s to Mexican laborers today, ImperialCounty has held the promise of paradise-and thereality of hell. It is a land beautiful and harsh, enticingand deadly, rich in history and heartbreak. Across theborder, the desert is the same but there are differentsecrets. In Imperial, award-winning writer William T.Vollmann takes us deep into the heart of this hauntedregion, and by extension into the dark soul of Americanimperialism.Known for his penetrating meditations on povertyand violence, Vollmann has spent ten years doggedlyinvestigating every facet of this bi-national locus, raidingarchives, exploring polluted rivers, guarded factories,and Chinese tunnels, talking with everyone fromfarmers to border patrolmen in his search for the fadingAmerican dream and its Mexican equivalent. Theresult is a majestic book that addresses current debateson immigration, agribusiness, and corporate exploitation,issues that will define America's identity in thetwenty-first century.