The Paragraph 101

Here is my favorite paragraph from one of my favorite stories of all time. Amy Hempel says that In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried is the first story she ever wrote. That's either very inspiring or very depressing, depending on what kind of writing day you're having.

"What seems dangerous often is not - black snakes, for example, or clear-air turbulence. While things that just lie there, like this beach, are loaded with jeopardy. A yellow dust rising from the ground, the heat that ripens melons overnight - this is earthquake weather. You can sit here braiding the fringe on your towel and the sand will all of a sudden suck down like an hourglass. The air roars. In the cheap apartments on-shore, bathtubs full themselves and gardens roll up and over like green waves. If nothing happens, the dust will drift and the heat deepen till fear turns to desire. Nerves like that are only brought off by catastrophe."

Amy Hempel, In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried, Reasons to Live, NY: Harper Collins, 1985.
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