GOLDEN STATE MYTH
The Most Famous California Novel You’ve Never Heard Of
Harold Bell Wright’s bestseller "The Winning of Barbara Worth" promised California it could make deserts bloom. Now we’re paying the pr…
FROM THE ARCHIVES
‘A Horrible Death to Die’
Behind the origin myth of Stanford University lies a century-old murder. The victim: the school’s chief founder and benefactor.
THE MONDAY BOOK REVIEW
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The Long and the Short View
Boom Times for the End of the World celebrates Scott Timberg’s legacy.
The Home Front
At the heart of Mona Simpson’s Commitment is a family on the ropes.
Time It Was
In Saving Time, Jenny Odell wants to take back the clock.
The Player, Not the Game
Lucy Jane Bledsoe’s Tell the Rest is a novel of basketball and art.
Where We Are Now
In three books of poetry, Courtney Faye Taylor, Vickie Vértiz, and B.H. Fairchild write California through the lens of place.
REVENANT
A Grizzly Bear Comeback?
Researchers show that it is possible to reintroduce the iconic brown bear to California. Will people go for it?
Latest from the California Book Club
Join the West Coast literary conversation every month.
The New Canon
Introducing Claudia Rankine’s ‘Citizen’
EVENTS
Alta Live hosts interviews with magazine contributors, subjects, and California luminaries every Wednesday.
Alta Live: An Indigenous Response to Land Art with Jason Asenap
Wednesday, March 29, at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time
Alta Live: Cartoonist Teresa Burns Parkhurst
Wednesday, April 5, at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time
Alta Live: Author Terry McDonell
Wednesday, April 12, at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time
Alta Live: Author Jane Smiley
Wednesday, April 26, at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time
Alta Live: The Accuracy of HBO’s ‘Perry Mason’
Learn how two historians helped HBO’s Perry Mason television series re-create Depression-era Los Angeles as accurately as possible.
HIS MOTHER'S SON
Terry McDonell’s West Coast Perspective
Together with his novel and earlier memoir, Terry McDonell’s Irma defines a perspective of perpetual curiosity and self-discovery.
THE WEEKLY ALTA NEWSLETTER
New stories from California and the West sent to your inbox every Thursday.
Creem Queen
Jaan Uhelszki’s hard rock life.
L.A.’s Third Rail
Major concerns about mass transit.
Powerful Nature Documentaries
“Fire of Love” and “Buried” document nature—and humanity—in the extreme.
Remembering David Lance Goines
Remembering Berkeley artist David Lance Goines.
Man One’s Los Angeles
Man One paints the faces of Los Angeles.
