Nonesuch Nonfiction Book Club

Let the adventure begin. Join the Nonesuch Nonfiction Book Club led by Sean R. Corbin, a PSPL Librarian.

The group meets the 3rd Thursday of the month from 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (September through May) in the Cornelia White Community Room at the Welwood Murray Memorial Library in downtown Palm Springs.

To receive meeting information and/or join the email list for the Nonesuch Nonfiction Book Club, please email Sean R. Corbin in advance of the meeting.

Most titles are available as Downloadable Audiobooks and/or eBooks from PSPL.

March 19, 2026

A Troubled Oasis: A Critical History of Palm Springs, California by Ronald Isetti

This is a revised and enlarged version of A Troubled Oasis: A Critical History of Palm Springs. The key chapter on the tragedy of the Section Fourteen "urban holocaust" when minorities were evicted from the center of the city in the 1960s, has been updated in light of a tranche of new, revelatory documents published online by city officials in the spring of 2023. However, all of the chapters have been enriched by greater detail, new subjects, and deeper research, making this new edition practically a new book. A critical perspective has been maintained, eschewing the boosterism of traditional municipal histories. This comprehensive study should appeal to anyone who wants to know more about the history of Palm Springs, from the prehistoric times of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians to the present day.

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Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Palm Springs, should contact the ADA Coordinator, as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.