Two-buck chuck and the marlboro man: the new old west : essays : america's true west

Frank Bergon's astonishing portrayals of people in California's San Joaquin Valley reveal a country where the culture of a vanishing West lives on in many twenty-first-century Westerners, despite the radical technological transformations around them. All are immigrants, migrants, their children, or their grandchildren whose lives intertwine with the author's, including several races and ethnicities: Chicanos, Mexicans, African Americans, Italians, Asians, Native Americans, Scots-Irish descendants of Steinbeck's Okies, and Basques of the author's own heritage. Bergon presents a powerful array of rural and small-town Westerners who often see themselves as part of a region and a way of life most Americans aren't aware of or don't understand, their voices unheard, their stories untold. In these essays, Westerners from the diverse heritage of the San Joaquin Valley include California's legendary Fred Franzia, the maker of the world's best-selling Charles Shaw wines dubbed "Two-Buck Chuck," and Darrell Winfield, a Dust Bowl migrant and lifelong working cowboy who for more than thirty years reigned as the iconic Marlboro Man. Their voices help us understand the complexities of today's rural West, where Old West values intersect with New West realities. This is the West (and America today)—a region in conflict with itself.

Frank Bergon's astonishing portrayals of people in California's San Joaquin Valley reveal a country where the culture of a vanishing West lives on in many twenty-first-century Westerners, despite the radical technological transformations around them. All are immigrants, migrants, their children, or their grandchildren whose lives intertwine with the author's, including several races and ethnicities: Chicanos, Mexicans, African Americans, Italians, Asians, Native Americans, Scots-Irish descendants of Steinbeck's Okies, and Basques of the author's own heritage.Bergon presents a powerful array of rural and small-town Westerners who often see themselves as part of a region and a way of life most Americans aren't aware of or don't understand, their voices unheard, their stories untold. In these essays, Westerners from the diverse heritage of the San Joaquin Valley includeCalifornia's legendary Fred Franzia, the maker of the world's best-selling Charles Shaw wines dubbed "Two-Buck Chuck, " and Darrell Winfield, a Dust Bowl migrant and lifelong working cowboy who for more than thirty years reigned as the iconic Marlboro Man. Their voiceshelp us understand the complexities of today's rural West, where Old West values intersect with New West realities. This is the West (and America today)—a region in conflict with itself.

Frank Bergons astonishing personal portrayals of people in Californias San Joaquin Valley reveal a country where the culture of a vanishing West lives on in many twenty-first-century Westerners, despite the radical technological transformations around them. All are immigrants, migrants, their children, or their grandchildren whose lives intertwine with the authors, including several races and ethnicities: Chicanos, Mexicans, African Americans, Italians, Asians, Native Americans, Scots-Irish descendants of Steinbecks Okies, and Basques of the authors own heritage. Chapters feature the celebrated Native American writer Louis Owens and the untold stories of Californias legendary Fred Franzia, the controversial creator of the Charles Shaw wines dubbed Two-Buck Chuck, and Darrell Winfield, a Dust Bowl migrant, and a lifelong working cowboy who for more than thirty years reigned as the iconic Marlboro Man. Bergon exposes a West in flux that challenges the romanticized West of popular culture. While still retaining many of the features and traits of the Old West, the contemporary Westerners featured here also confront the realities of life in the West (and America) todaya region caught between its roots and an ever-changing modern world. "The book debunks stereotypes and shows how California's Great Central Valley intertwines a vanishing Old West and an emerging New West to create America's True West, a country of 21st-century rural and small-town Westerners of many races and ethnicities who often feel ignored or looked down on, several with ties to Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Texas, but all shaped as was Bergon by California's Great Valley"--Provided by publisher. The vision of Two-buck Chuck Illegal immigrant to valley farmer Basque dirt Drought in the garden of the sun Valley tolerance Black ranch girl Chicano vet New woman warrior A valley Indian's search for roots Native American Okie Rebellion in Marlboro country West of California : the Marlboro Man.