Furthermore, this book is an amalgam of ad hominem attacks on everyone who dares to make money in the wine industry. Those with family money are dismissed as "lucky spermers" unless like, Peter Mennen, they use their money to stop big business. Mennen is portrayed as the noble hero but seems to be more a naive idealist. Certainly, there are forces of good and bad in any capitalist industry, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Ending vineyard development would lead to one of two things - more houses in place of vineyards or higher and higher prices for vintners as the scarcity increased their profits. Certainly, there is a middle ground yet Conaway, by following the bull-headed extremists, would have us believe that there can be no compromise.

Check this book out from the library if you must read it, but support more even-handed works with your dollars.

I'm not clear on who the author approves of, but he's clearly against anyone who lives, builds, or conducts business in Napa Valley -- plus anyone crass enough to actually visit for a weekend and enjoy the place.

If you are a part of the Napa community then you might enjoy the gossipy anecdotes in this book. If you are a hard-core, disgruntled environmentalist then you might find validation for your views. But if you are just interested in the region and land issues in general then you'll find a pissy, overblown screed that irritates more than it informs.

It is a much more entertaining and accurate read than Kolpan's Sense of Place which basically parrots Coppola's publicity agent's "approved" history. This is a must have book for anyone interested in what goes on behind the scenes in the Napa Valley.

Having said that, it does make for entertaining reading, and if you have any interest in the Napa Valley at all it will enlighten you to the local culture and to the issues that are in the forefront of people's minds there as far as land use goes. Although a true story it reads like a page turner novel, there are a lot of colorful characters.

I am also dubious about the claim that this may be a precursor for other land use battles across the country. I sure hope not, I don't think most other places are so willing to listen to extremism as they are in California, and will work out their issues with more comity and more reliance on actual and not junk, politically based science.

You will understand, immediately, why the new Napa Valleyites tried to prevent Conaway from giving a reading when he visited the area this fall.

As a journalist, I can tell you this story is beautifully reported and written. Sadly, the story is not just about Napa Valley. It is about the American West: Traditional Westerners who have their souls rooted in their landscape are being squeezed out by wealthy newcomers with no taste, and, worse yet, no respect for the place they have invaded.

Next thing we know, Rosy O'Donnell will be a Napa Valley vintner. Or the Bush twins. Or Ted Turner.

Get this book. Read it.