Dream State
Eight Generations of Swamp Lawyers, Conquistadors, Confederate Daughters, Banana Republicans, and Other Florida Wildlife
A sweeping story of Florida told through eight generations of family history
Part family memoir, part political commentary, part apologia, Dream State tells the grand and sometimes crazy story of Florida through the eyes of one of its native daughters. Acclaimed journalist and NPR commentator Diane Roberts has many family secrets to tell as she reveals how her ancestors settled in Florida and wove themselves into the very fabric of the state.
With a storyteller’s talent for setting great scenes, Roberts lays out the sweeping history of eight generations of Browards and Bradfords, Tuckers and Robertses. Continuing into the recent past with the botched presidential election of 2000, Roberts renders Florida’s inhabitants with a deep, familial affection. While exposing the real people whom Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard fictionalized for years, Dream State ultimately reveals the cogs and wheels that make the state tick.
“With hurricane-force prose, journalist and Florida native Roberts hits the land of orange groves, theme parks and mobile homes with a torrential outpouring of love and hate, affection and disgust . . . If there ever was any doubt about the true nature of the Sunshine State—‘where what people think happened is always more important than what really happened’—Roberts puts it to the test in this splendid unofficial history.”—Publishers Weekly
“A fun ride. . . and proof positive that despite its pretenses, Florida does have a history—and a wild one.”—Booklist
“A raucous but also sensitive and insightful view of why the Sunshine State really is different.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Dream State is a wild and wiggly book that has no clear precedent, just as Diane Roberts’ fascinating and all-comprehending and wicked mind has no precedent. And she writes the sweetest, twitchiest, funniest, smartest prose you’re likely to find.”—Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Diane Roberts is the University Alumni Distinguished Writer and Professor of English at Florida State University. Roberts’s books include Tribal: College Football and the Secret Heart of America. Her work has appeared in the Atlantic, New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and on NPR and the BBC.
