ARAX’S STORIES SHARE WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE
Visalia Times-Delta
le/20090828/ENTERTAINMENT/90828005
Aug 28 2009
"West of the West," Mark Arax (2009)
Raised in the Fresno area in an Armenian family and having worked
as a reporter for the L.A. Times, Arax has a wealth of experience in
telling stories about the Valley and California, as he demonstrated
in the book "The King of California."
"West" is a wonderful collection of stories of all types from all
over the state. Among the topics: the growing of marijuana in Humboldt
County, apparently unobstructed by any authorities; immigrant Mexican
farmworkers who survive under pitiable conditions and also are torn
by their relationships back home; the changes in the cultures of
Berkeley and San Francisco; the participation of FBI officers in
Sacramento in the prosecution of lowly Muslims in the War on Terror
and his own involvement in his family’s production of illegal booze.
All the stories are told with verve and insight and understanding of
those who suffer and those who win.
It’ s a wonderful book by a guy who wrote in my signed copy, "Book
Reviewer Extraordinaire." How could I not like his books?
"The Limits of Power," Andrew J. Bacevich (2008)
Bacevich’s book is a thorough rebuke and condemnation of U.S. policy
toward the world. Interestingly, he begins with an attack on American
profligacy, always wanting more things, such as cheap oil, unlimited
borrowing and a higher standard of living.
Then he takes on the modern structure of government, which is largely
characterized as an imperial presidency, with the legislative branch
failing utterly to provide the checks and balances envisioned by the
framers of the Constitution.
The president rules with a batch of cronies and overwhelms any
opposition, leading us to wars without end as in Iraq and Afghanistan,
Bacevich writes. But this is not new, since it goes back to end
of the Eisenhower era, when there was at least the semblance of
executive-legislative coordination.
Then he goes on to attack military policy, run both by the political
leaders and the uniformed men who have made unending mistakes, getting
us into wars, taking risks that nearly always end in blunders and
high costs in various dimensions.
His remedies: more humility in foreign policy, work with our normal
allies, let Islam be Islam — except for its extremists — and give
our attention to more important things, such as saving the planet
from destruction of the environment.
This is a bold and powerful statement, probably acceptable to few
Americans, especially Bushites, but much of it rings true for me
as I despair over recent policy, which largely continues even in a
new administration.
â~@¢Dean is a retired University of California, Santa Barbara
professor.