The City and the Fields: Multicultural Themes in Modern California Literature, by Marek Breiger, provides an indispensable guide through California's rich, multicultural literary landscape. "What America is to the world," wrote Robert Penn Warren (referring to John Steinbeck), "California is to America." California literature - which is multi-regional and multicultural - reflects major themes of American literature in terms of the dreams of refuge for the oppressed, justice for the poor, and dreams of new beginnings. Focusing on literature that is specifically Californian helps us understand...