T.C. Boyle’s California
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 10.30.03 | 8:49 PM ET
Novelist T.C. Boyle’s essay about the California wildfires in Wednesday’s New York Times isn’t exactly travel writing. Boyle lives in California; he’s not describing a physical journey. But he sure does a fine job of evoking a sense of the place at this moment in history. Take this powerful opening paragraph: “It is dark here today, the generous golden sun of the Golden State reduced to a pink gumball hanging powerlessly over the treetops. Indoors, the house is a wash of strange, muted colors, the floors glowing red, the kitchen countertops thinly painted in the hue of vin rouge. Outside, the birds are holding their breath as fine threads of white ash roll down out of the sky and the distant thunder of aircraft rumbles through the leaves.” Wow. (Registration required to access the article.)
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
