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| View Larger Image | California Fault: Looking for the Spirit of a State Along the San Andreas
by Thurston Clarke
| | List Price: | $5.99 |  | | 6 New starting at: | $4.50 | | 50 Used starting at: | $0.01 | | 7 Collectible starting at: | $10.00 | | | | | Sales Rank: | 466014 | | Studio: | Ballantine Books | | | Binding: | Hardcover | | Number Of Pages: | 417 | | Publication Date: | March 26, 1996 | | Publisher: | Ballantine Books |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
"I became interested in earthquakes when one almost killed me," begins acclaimed travel writer Thurston Clarke, "and in California when I discovered it almost killed my ancestor. . . ." His fascination propelled Clarke to take a journey and begin a brilliant exploration of the physical and social landscape of a mythical state.
California has seduced millions with its breathtaking beauty and rich resources. For decades it symbolized the good life: perfect weather, spectacular beaches, agricultural bounty, limitless opportunity, endless optimism, "a new start, a kinder providence, a rebirth of soul and body." Yet the social problems and natural disasters of recent years have tarnished the image of the golden state. To find out what really happened to the California dream, Clarke set off on a remarkable journey down the San Andreas fault, searching for the places and the people who could enlighten him and perhaps answer the provocative question: What is it like living in a place that no matter how beautiful, might suddenly, while you opened the cereal, combed your hair, or bathed the baby, strike you dead?
On this incredible excursion, Clarke discovers the tragic fate of the Wiyot Indians and their earthquake legends. . . meets Jerry Hurley, an earthquake "sensitive" whose headaches predict earthquakes with uncanny precision. . . investigates the bitter conflict between California's logging industry and environmentalists. . . uncovers a fascinating conspiracy surrounding the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that rewrote history. . . visits Palm Springs, the glamorous desert hideaway of gated communities, now beset by gangs. . . and stops by the desolate Salton Sea, shaking hands with a determined dreamer who hopes someday to build a blue-collar resort along the abandoned shores.
With wit, irony, and a keen eye for observation, Clarke weaves together sociology, history, personality, and seismology. What emerges is a unique portrait of a fascinating, slightly loony, appealingly complex state, with its allure, eccentricity--and optimism--still wonderfully intact. |
Amazon.com
Acclaimed travel writer Thurston Clarke sets off on a journey down the San Andreas Fault, searching for the lost California Dream and for the places and the people who can enlighten him by answering the provocative question: What is it like living in a place that, no matter how beautiful, might suddenly, while you opened the cereal, combed your hair or bathed the baby, strike you dead? From the answers a unique profile of the Golden State emerges: fascinating, slightly loony, appealingly complex, and enduringly optimistic. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 1 review)
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Whose Fault? 
California Fault is an excellent and endearing book. Thurston Clark combines elements of geology, sociology, history with a wealth of insight to create the story of the San Andreas fault and the Californians who live above and along it. The author provides an excellent and detailed narrative, and, despite following many entertaining digressions, keeps it all together and focussed by the creative use of different themes - the trail of an ancestor who led men across the Oregon trail, his personal search for an earthquake to experience and someone to forecast it for him, and of course, the pursuit of the California dream. In particular those who like eccentrics will find a selection of the best California has to offer - their stories tied together by the author's skillfully highlighted ironies and ambiguities which are themself such a big part of any true California story.
September 25, 2000 | |
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