California Fault [Paperback]

Thurston Clarke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 1997

"DELIGHTFULLY ECLECTIC . . . Move over, Alexis de Tocqueville. When Thurston Clarke makes the UFO-earthquake connection halfway through Fault, he elevates himself to the first rank of America's social observers."  
--Los Angeles Times  

California has always symbolized the good life, but social problems and natural disasters have tarnished the image of the Golden State. To find out what happened to the California Dream, Clarke sets off on a remarkable journey down the San Andreas fault searching for earthquakes and good news. From the "sensitive" whose headaches predict earthquakes with uncanny precision to a determined dreamer at the Salton Sea who hopes someday to build a blue-collar resort along the abandoned shores, Clarke introduces us to a memorable cast of eccentrics, asking each 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?

"VIVID AND CONTINUALLY SURPRISING . . . The author has an unerring ability to search out exactly the right despoiler, utopian, or local eccentric to illuminate the history and character of each stop along the way."
--The New Yorker

Editorial Reviews

Review

In California Fault, [Clarke] merely entertains and illuminates, writing gracefully, and with a fine sense of irony, about earthquakes, the California Dream and the abiding eccentricity that characterizes the Golden State.... deftly written, relentlessly good-humored. -- The New York Times Book Review, Tim Cahill

From the Inside Flap

"DELIGHTFULLY ECLECTIC . . . Move over, Alexis de Tocqueville. When Thurston Clarke makes the UFO-earthquake connection halfway through Fault, he elevates himself to the first rank of America's social observers."  
--Los Angeles Times  

California has always symbolized the good life, but social problems and natural disasters have tarnished the image of the Golden State. To find out what happened to the California Dream, Clarke sets off on a remarkable journey down the San Andreas fault searching for earthquakes and good news. From the "sensitive" whose headaches predict earthquakes with uncanny precision to a determined dreamer at the Salton Sea who hopes someday to build a blue-collar resort along the abandoned shores, Clarke introduces us to a memorable cast of eccentrics, asking each 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?

"VIVID AND CONTINUALLY SURPRISING . . . The author has an unerring ability to search out exactly the right despoiler, utopian, or local eccentric to illuminate the history and character of each stop along the way."
--The New Yorker

Product Details

• Paperback: 417 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st Trade Pbk. Ed edition (July 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345409086
• ISBN-13: 978-0345409089
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,647,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting slice of California, May 24, 2000

By 

Jeffrey Linwood "everypark.com" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Fault (Paperback)

The author takes a trip down the San Andreas fault from the North Coast to the Salton Sea, and talks about the communities (villages, San Francisco, Palm Springs) along the way. These California towns are facing the same problems with developers wanting to make a quick buck and local governments desparate for tax money to build prisons. The author's geology is lacking, but his sense of the people he's met makes up for it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, February 10, 1999

By 

LochNess2 (California, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: California Fault (Paperback)

California Fault is an absolutely wonderful addition to the literature about California, and the San Andreas Fault. Clarke's tales about the state, and how the Fault has influenced it, are highly recommended.I would rate the book up with Mike Davis' "City of Quartz" and "Ecology of Fear" as some of the absolute best writing about the state.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Searching for unity in a divisive state., September 20, 2003

By 

Luis P. Fernandez "Bookiewookie" (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Fault (Paperback)

The fear, fatalism, and futility that earthquakes inspire in Californians may be the one true element that binds them all despite their political, sociocultural and economic and, may I add, hydrological divisiveness. Still, earthquakes may not necessarily factor in the psyche of people who live a comfortable distance from the state's many faults or for people who do not think they should be affected at all. The book probably works out fine for readers who have not been to California or who are curious about earthquakes and the alleged capabilities of some people to make predictions sans scientific instruments.

The strongest message that I got from the book is this: Just as the beauty of California belies the terror that its geologic instability can bring about, the popularity of the state as a favorite destination belies the sad realities that come with unstoppable population growth: the lack of rootedness and an appreciation for history, the ever-increasing isolationism of gated communities and housing developments, and the homogenization of suburban living, shopping, and other recreational diversions. The description of teenage ennui in privileged Saratoga, the suburban anonymity of Cupertino in Santa Clara Valley and Palmdale in Antelope Valley, and the increasing hazards of spending a weekend at the San Gabriel Mountains were particularly telling.

Earthquakes may cause people not to move to, or to move out of, California, but the big challenge for Californians is to balance a viable economy with preserving what is left of this gorgeous state. The author lamented the lack of community in places that have just sprouted from what once was rangeland or farmland. Will the sense of community improve when immigrant communities are more established? The children of immigrants and transplants will have to understand the history of this vast state and listen to the voices of reason (voiced out by its eccentrics? bohemians? environmentalists?) in order to come up with a solution to preserve the attributes that make California great.