Peter Richardson, "American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams" (U California Press, 2019)

Beyond the Margins: The University of California Press Podcast · Sep 20, 2021 · 1h 2m

Historian Kevin Starr described Carey McWilliams as "the finest nonfiction writer on California—ever" and "the state's most astute political observer." But as Peter Richardson argues in American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams (University of California Press, 2019), McWilliams was also one of the nation's most versatile and productive public intellectuals of his time. Richardson's absorbing and elegant biography traces McWilliams's extraordinary life and career. Drawing from a wide range of sources, it explores his childhood on a Colorado cattle ranch, his early literary…