California Childhood: Recollections and Stories of the Golden State

by Gary Soto

Thirty-two writers, including Maxine Hong Kinston, William Saroyan, and M.F.K. Fisher, describe their experiences growing up in California

255 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1988

About the author

Gary Soto is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry International, and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the interview series Poets in Person. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence. In 1997, because of his advocacy for reading, he was featured as NBC’s Person-of-the-Week. In 1999, he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He divides his time between Berkeley, California and his hometown of Fresno.

Reviews

[Pamela Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in my mom’s collection years after she died; and I couldn’t resist reading the stories by the various writers who grew up in California. Both of my parents were born and raised in Southern California and they moved around the state quite a bit after, I was born, so I’ve lived in many of the places where these stories are set. Each one is a jewel displaying the many facets of old California—a state where you can still find some hidden gem of the way it used to look, before the freeways and urban sprawl gobbled up all the land from mountain to coast. I consider this book a classic, in the sense that it would be the perfect go-to-reference for any writer using California as their setting. It’s taken me years to finish it, slowly enjoying one story at a time. I hope it is still in print, so more people can enjoy it too. 5 stars.

[Hank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of stories chronicling bygone eras of the Golden State. It was interesting to hear deeply personal accounts of growing up in the diverse regions of the state - the result is a colorful mural which indicates the answer to "Who is California?" is, well, just about every walk of life you can imagine.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short stories was very different than what I usually read (classic, mystery, or themed short stories), but I really enjoyed it. The works were selected by regional flavor instead of genre. It was interesting to have stories told from the various perspectives of authors who came from one state, but whose cultural backgrounds varied widely.