Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Audiobook6 hours
A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma
Written by Alan Deutschman
Narrated by Michael Cerveris
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
When acclaimed journalist Alan Deutschman came to the California wine country as the lucky house guest of very rich friends, he was surprised to discover a raging controversy. A civil war was being fought between the Napa Valley, which epitomized elitism, prestige and wealthy excess, and the neighboring Sonoma Valley, a rag-tag bohemian enclave so stubbornly backward that rambunctious chickens wandered freely through town. But the antics really began when new-money invaders began pushing out Sonoma's poets and painters to make way for luxury resorts and trophy houses that seemed a parody of opulence. A Tale of Two Valleys captures these stranger-than-fiction locales with the wit of a Tom Wolfe novel and uncorks the hilarious absurdities of life among the wine world's glitterati.
Deutschman found that on the weekends the wine country was like a bunch of gracious hosts smiling upon their guests, but during the week the families feuded with each other and their neighbors like the Hatfields and McCoys. Napa was a comically exclusive club where the super-rich fought desperately to get in. Sonoma's colorful free spirits and iconoclasts were wary of their bohemia becoming the next playground for the rapacious elite. So, led by a former taxicab driver and wine-grape picker, a cheese merchant, and an artist who lived in a barn surrounded by wild peacocks, they formed a populist revolt to seize power and repel the rich invaders.
Deutschman's cast of characters brims with eccentrics, egomaniacs, and a mysterious man in black who crashed the elegant Napa Valley Wine Auction before proceeding to pay a half-million dollars for a single bottle. What develops is nothing less than a battle for the good life, a clash between old and new, the struggle for the soul of one of America's last bits of paradise. A dishy glimpse behind the scenes of a West Coast wonderland, A Tale of Two Valleys makes for intoxicating reading.
Deutschman found that on the weekends the wine country was like a bunch of gracious hosts smiling upon their guests, but during the week the families feuded with each other and their neighbors like the Hatfields and McCoys. Napa was a comically exclusive club where the super-rich fought desperately to get in. Sonoma's colorful free spirits and iconoclasts were wary of their bohemia becoming the next playground for the rapacious elite. So, led by a former taxicab driver and wine-grape picker, a cheese merchant, and an artist who lived in a barn surrounded by wild peacocks, they formed a populist revolt to seize power and repel the rich invaders.
Deutschman's cast of characters brims with eccentrics, egomaniacs, and a mysterious man in black who crashed the elegant Napa Valley Wine Auction before proceeding to pay a half-million dollars for a single bottle. What develops is nothing less than a battle for the good life, a clash between old and new, the struggle for the soul of one of America's last bits of paradise. A dishy glimpse behind the scenes of a West Coast wonderland, A Tale of Two Valleys makes for intoxicating reading.
Unavailable
Author
Alan Deutschman
Alan Deutschman is a senior writer at Fast Company and the author of two previous books, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs and A Tale of Two Valleys. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife.
Related to A Tale of Two Valleys
Related audiobooks
The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Seastar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNapa at Last Light: America's Eden in an Age of Calamity Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Weed Man: The Remarkable Journey of Jimmy Divine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hopper: A Journey into the American Dream Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homeplace: A Southern Town, a Country Legend, and the Last Days of a Mountaintop Honky-Tonk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Ballad of Love and Glory: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barons of the Sea: And their Race to Build the World's Fastest Clipper Ship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Zeroes: My Misadventures in the Decade Wall Street Went Insane Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The King and Queen of Malibu: The True Story of the Battle for Paradise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The RUM DIARY: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heat and Light: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Walking the Americas: 1,800 Miles, Eight Countries, and One Incredible Journey from Mexico to Colombia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road to Appomattox Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Battleborn: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Texas Thunder Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Our American West, Vol 3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire, and War in the West Indies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51876: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Survival Trilogy: Arena 2 and Arena 3 (Books 2 and 3) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVineyard, The: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Call of the Wild Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peter West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Murder in a Mill Town: Sex, Faith, and the Crime That Captivated a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
United States Travel For You
Daddy Boy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wild Men, Wild Alaska: Finding What Lies Beyond the Limits Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bliss(ters): How I walked from Mexico to Canada One Summer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under the Stars: How America Fell in Love with Camping Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Palm Springs Noir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Haunted Road Atlas: Sinister Stops, Dangerous Destinations, and True Crime Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Midwest Survival Guide: How We Talk, Love, Work, Drink, and Eat . . . Everything with Ranch Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5AWOL on the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wrong Dog: An Unlikely Tale of Unconditional Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enchanted New York: A Journey along Broadway through Manhattan's Magical Past Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBest. State. Ever.: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild & Wonderful (and Paranormal) West Virginia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longest Road: Overland in Search of America, from Key West to the Arctic Ocean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: A Memoir of Learning to Believe You’re Gonna Be Okay Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oh, Florida!: How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/550 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yosemite Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Empty Places: A Journey Through Blank Spots on the American Map Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coming into the Country Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for A Tale of Two Valleys
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
1 rating0 reviews