The Face of the Clam

The Face of the Clam is a 1947 novel by author Luther Whiteman.[1] The story is a fictionalized account of the Dunites, a group of bohemians who lived in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes on the Central Coast of California from the 1920s-1940s.[2] Humorously, Whiteman claims in a disclaimer at the front of the book, that the Dunites never existed.[3][4]

The Face of the Clam

First edition
Author	Luther Whiteman
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Comic novel California fiction
Publisher	Random House (1947) South County Historical Society (2010)
Publication date	1947
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	248
ISBN	9780967346496 (2010 paperback)
OCLC	6713124

Reprinted as an Armed Services Edition after WWII, the novel was long out of print and considered rare, but the South County Historical Society published a new edition of the book in 2010.[5]

Publication history

Random House published the original edition in 1947. An Armed Services edition (Volume 1242) was published by the U.S. military for soldiers in the Korean War in the same year. The book was out of print and considered rare until the South County Historical Society published a new edition in 2010, with an introduction written by Jane Garrod Whiteman, the author's daughter.[5]

See also

• Tortilla Flat (1935)

References

1. Burger, Nash K. (1947, January 19). California Beachcombers. The New York Times, BR12.
2. Linn, Sarah (July 8, 2013). The Dunites: Building a Utopia in the Oceano Dunes. Artbound. KCET.
3. Hammond, N. (1992). The Dunites. Arroyo Grande: South County Historical Society. pp. 101-102.
4. Briggs, M. (2009, July 16). Interview with Norm Hammond ~ author of "The Dunites". Vulpes Libris.
5. Schwellenbach, A. (2010, September 8). When life hands you clams. New Times.

Further reading

• Davidson, W. (1947, February 2). A Strange Story of Pismo Beach Clams and Cults. Chicago Daily Tribune, C4.
• Krieger, D. (2010, September 12). Discover the Dunites. The Tribune (San Luis Obispo).