A Tale of Two Valleys, Alan Deutschman
A Tale of Two Valleys, Alan Deutschman
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A Tale of Two Valleys
Wine, Wealth and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma

Author: Alan Deutschman

Narrator: Michael Cerveris

Unabridged: 6 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/13/2003


Synopsis

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.

About The Author

Alan Deutschman has been writing for top magazines since 1988. He has been a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, GQ, and New York Magazine, and he was the Silicon Valley correspondent for Fortune. He is the author of the Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestseller, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs. He lives in San Francisco.


Reviews

Goodreads review by David

Really interesting book. The author has a great writing style, and he really transports the reader to a city council meeting in Sonoma, or to Marc Benioff's Napa mansion. I felt like I was hanging out with the characters in the book. Plus, while I have heard of Napa, I wasn't quite familiar with Son......more


Quotes

Critics Toast
The Second Coming of Steve Jobs
“Delicious… a pleasure to read.” —Chicago Sun-Times
“Compulsively readable” —Washington Post
“Great read” —Fast Company
“A mesmerizing, outstanding read, this book crackles with energy.” —Dallas Morning News
“Get a spoon. Your deep dish treat has arrived.” —New York Post
“A fascinating book.” —Arizona Daily Star

Advance Praise for
A Tale of Two Valleys
“Intoxicating . . . Deutschman serves up the drama glass by glass . . . Rarely has such an exclusive world and its inhabitants been made so accessible.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)