For a less flattering view of the book, here is my review from the April 2003
California Grapevine wine newsletter:

"A Tale of Two Valleys, Alan Deutschman, Broadway Books (A division of Random
House), New York, 2003, 174 pages, softback, $25. This must be the year for
spending time in a wine growing area and then writing about the political and
social movements within the communities. Earlier this year we had James
Conway's insightful book The Far Side of Eden (reviewed in Vol X, Issue x-Nick
please add the correct cite). Alan Deutschman tries this same approach but
stumbles badly. The author made several very wealthy friends in Silicon Valley
who let him spend time in their weekend retreats in both Napa and Sonoma
Valleys. While Conway seemed to have a depth of insight, Deutschman seems to
have been swept away by geographic stereotypes. In his work, the Napa Valley
has been lost to dot-commers intent on building mansions horribly out of place.
Sonoma continues to struggle against the onslaught but may be losing. If only
the world was this simple.
Again and again I found the author accepting at face value comments made to
him by locals. For example he declares that the Farmer's Market in Sonoma is
held on Wednesday nights so as to exclude the weekenders from San Francisco and
Silicon Valley. (Nick Pg 31) Oh? The farmers and agriculture people I've
spoken to in Sonoma tell me it is held on Wednesdays so that they could have
the weekend off and then have time to harvest before the event. I also found
the author amazingly unaware of the realities of the world. For example, the
author describes going to the Sonoma County Fair and watching the members of
the Future Farmers of America showing the lambs they have raised. The author
is shocked when he learns the winners will not go back to the farms as pets but
will be sold off and slaughtered for food. (Nick pages 145-147.) Deutschman
describes the sale of the animal as a Faustian bargain (Pg 147) of trading a
pet for money. Pet? Pet? I find it hard to believe that even one raised in the
sterile innards of a big city would not have gleaned that farmers raise animals
for slaughter not as pets. The idea that what was going on at the fair was
unusual or sinister leaves me shaking my head in disbelief.
This is the problem I had with the book. As someone raised north of the Golden
Gate bridge much of the book seemed to describe an image not reality. Time and
again the author makes judgments and evaluations I found shallow, superficial
and odd. This book may appeal to those who have stereotyped images of the
citizens of Napa and Sonoma (perhaps the East Coast media types) but I found it
lacked the depth or sophisticated analysis of Conaway's book. Not recommended."