Over the Edge

"This anthology represents the state of the art in scholarship on the U.S. West and charts new paths for western historians involving cultural studies, feminist theory, and even legal criticism. It problematizes the entire field of western history by challenging our notions of what subjects, materials, and themes qualify as 'western' and especially by showcasing the power of cultural studies in illuminating the many strands of western life. Over the Edge is an exceptional contribution to western studies, one which reflects the theoretical energy of an evolving discourse."--Vicki L. Ruiz, Arizona State University

"A manuscript of unusual personality, charm, and force; it should greatly please a wide range of readers, including those sophisticated about conservation and land-use questions, and it should make even the hardest-line ranchers think some new thoughts about their future strategies."-Ernest Callenbach, author of Ecotopia

"What a grand collaboration: Kittredge's words and the Blakes' images take us to the soul of the Klamath Country, at once a magnificent, battered, and resolute landscape. This finely-crafted blend of artistry, history, literature, public policy, and ecology tells the full and compelling story of one great western place and its people. In so doing, Balancing Water tells us a great deal about how, if we find the common will to work it right, we can shape the futures of other watersheds across the west."--Charles Wilkinson, Distinguished University Professor at the University of Colorado, and author of Fire on the Plateau and The Eagle Bird

Valerie J. Matsumoto is Associate Professor of History and Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of Farming the Home Place: A Japanese American Community in California, 1919-1982 (1993). Blake Allmendinger is Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of The Cowboy: Representations of Labor in an American Work Culture (1992).