Humboldt: Life on America's Marijuana Frontier
"In a rare journalistic feat, Emily Brady burrowed deep inside an infamous subculture and emerged with a luminous but haunting dispatch about a secretive community of outlaw pot growers--some of whom would rather risk their lives than see their profits crushed by the decriminalization of cannabis. Brady's brave reporting pulls no punches yet makes no judgments as she chronicles four people torn by their allegiances to a place that represents the beauty and ruthlessness of the modern American frontier-and the hypocrisy of the country's drug policy.Humboldtis a triumph of immersion reporting: vivid, compassionate, maddening and unforgettable."--Jonathan Schuppe, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author ofA Chance to Win"Emily Brady escorts you into the redwood-studded mountains of northern California where a secretive marijuana culture thrives-for now-outside the law. Deeply reported and populated with vibrant characters spanning generations,Humboldtdocuments the real lives behind America's favorite high. A fascinating and timely read."--David Kinney, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author ofThe Big One"Emily Brady has written a terrifically gripping book about America's confused relationship with marijuana. A tour-de-force of investigative journalism, Brady takes us inside the world of pot growers in God's own country, and illuminates the policy issues around legalization in a series of beautifully rendered character portraits."--Suketu Mehta, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist MAXIMUM CITY:Bombay Lost and Found"In her vivid, hypnotic HUMBOLDT, Emily Brady brings the notoriously secretive pot-growing community of Northern California to life through the lives of four very different Humboldters, whose nuanced stories form together like wisps of smoke."-Julian Rubinstein, author of the international bestsellerBallad of the Whiskey Robber"Emily Brady has written a masterfulopus dopus-to borrow a phrase from her book-chronicling the dreams and struggles of a community that has become infamous worldwide for their controversial cash crop. InHumboldt, she takes a clear-eyed look at the marijuana industry: its growers, trimmers, dealers, and family-run businesses. Readers will come away with a newfound and nuanced understanding of pot, but this is really a book about people whose outrageous, funny, and heartbreaking stories you won't soon forget."--Brooke Hauser, author ofTHE NEW KIDS: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens"In her bookHumboldt,Emily Brady takes us on a rowdy off-road trip into the homeland of marijuana moonshining, where pit bulls guard the fields, cash fills up holes in the ground, and it's a bad idea to ask anyone you encounter what they do for a living."--Bruce Porter,New York Timesbestselling author ofBlow