The Noir of the San Joaquin
A New Generation of Writers Takes a Hard Look at Life in California’s Dark Rural Heart
In the 1960s, Leonard Gardner’s novel Fat City and Sherley Anne Williams’ poem “The Iconography of Childhood” revealed the dark recesses of life in California’s supposedly bucolic San Joaquin Valley. These tough, stark works described communities where economic elites lived like sultans while the seasonal workers endured squalor and hopelessness. This was a California Dream via negativa.
The San Joaquin Valley is the southern end of California’s Great Central Valley. It has been characterized by rich soil, abundant sunshine, adequate water and—last but by no means least—cheap labor. Agribusiness here has …
