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Each story is astute, compelling, and
engaging. One moment you’re with Juan, who works two jobs back-to-back to
support his own family plus family members left behind in Mexico. The next,
you’re with Ed, a Buffalo Soldier in the Indian Wars—“This world was never made
with the idea of Ed in it. There is no place for Ed in a world where they cut
down giant trees.” And the next moment, you’re with a woman by the sea honoring
the sand—“How she loves her family, her clan. Like a nest floating on the
sea.”
There are Vietnamese refugees, Zoot Suit
Riots, residents of Japanese internment camps, convicts leaving prison, and
repo men. There are the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and the First Baptist
Church Choir trading show tunes and gospel songs. There are the survivors and
victims of California wildfires. There’s a young woman with hopes for a new
life who ends up working as a prostitute, and another woman who rides the train
away from an abusive husband. There are family secrets, and more.
I was impressed repeatedly by the
details of people’s thoughts and actions. This put me into their stories
instead of being an observer. Also, the stories humanized each situation and
its impact on nature or politics. California is a land of indigenous peoples,
migrants, settlers, and priests. These stories are gateways to understanding
cultures and generations, past and present.
In “Disheveled,” Kate and Kevin deal
with the aftermath of a 6.5 magnitude earthquake. “It looks like a bomb went
off,” Kate says when she first sees the damage to the library where they work.
Kevin puts out a call for help, and volunteers arrive to reshelf books. Their
friend Peter observes how the books represent people from every nation on
earth, and how their stories are continuously taken in, one book at a time, one
line at a time, becoming part of the rest of us.
Readers can draw their own conclusions
about the land and their own connections with the human condition, ranging from
cruelty, sorrow, and justice to vision and hope. Whatever the emotional
temperature, Hier and Brantingham capture the uniqueness of this place called
California.
Click here to purchase California Continuum online.
Click here to purchase California Continuum online.
Review By Cindy Rinne
Cindy Rinne creates art and writes in San Bernardino, CA. She brings myth to life in contemporary context. She is the author and artist behind Moon Of Many Petals from Cholla Needles (2018)
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