American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California

by James N. Gregory

Book Overview

Fifty years ago, John Steinbeck's now classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, captured the epic story of an Oklahoma farm family driven west to California by dust storms, drought, and economic hardship. It was a story that generations of Americans have also come to know through Dorothea Lange's unforgettable photos of migrant families struggling to make a living in Depression-torn California. Now in James N. Gregory's pathbreaking American Exodus, there...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195071360
• ISBN13: 9780195071368
• Release Date: September 1991
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

The Last Frontiersmen

Overall a good study of the last great westward folk migration in American history. I would add that many of their predecessors in the "classic" frontier period were just as broke and hungry as these migrants, but there was little mass media around to record them. An interesting, well-done slice of folk Americana.

A great companion to Grapes of Wrath

James Gregory has put together a outstanding history of the migration and culture of the dust bowl migrants who settled in California. I have probably read Grapes of Wrath four or five times since first reading it in high school, but after reading Gregory's description of the way these poor south-westerners struggled with poverty and at the same time maintained family unity and cultural pride, Steinbeck's book takes on a whole new meaning. Gregory goes step by step to show what motivated many to move, and then what motivated them to stay even though they suffered great privations and predjudice. I especially enjoyed learning about the influences of country music not just upon the migrants, but on the entire nation. A must read to make Grapes more clear!

American Exodus: Okies in California How They Really Were

I thought that this was a good book. I read it for a history course on the Great Depression and it was definately worth reading. It can get a little bogged down in detail or a little dull ocassionally, but overall it is a good view of "okie culture". It really helped be to understand the diversity and impact of the migration. And it contains a few interesting personal stories as well!

Excellent overview

This book provides an excellent overview of the history of the dust bowl Okies and the culture they (we) have created in central California. Gregory explores the religion, music, and politics well in clear language. The book is short enough to be enjoyable and while goes into some depth on a few issues, it is not so filled with unimportant details as to be muddled. Gregory sprinkles the text with brief excerpts of the many interviews he conducted with the Okies.