A Handful of Earth, a Handful of Sky - by Lynell George (Hardcover)

About the Book

A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler offers a blueprint for a creative life from the perspective of award-winning science-fiction writer and "MacArthur Genius" Octavia E. Butler. It is a collection of ideas about how to look, listen, breathe--how to be in the world. This book is about the creative process, but not on the page; its canvas is much larger. Author Lynell George not only engages the world that shaped Octavia E. Butler, she also explores the very specific processes through which Butler shaped herself--her unique process of self-making. It's about creating a life with what little you have--hand-me-down books, repurposed diaries, journals, stealing time to write in the middle of the night, making a small check stretch--bit by bit by bit. Highly visual and packed with photographs of Butler's ephemera, A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky draws the reader into Butler's world, creating a sense of unmatched intimacy with the deeply private writer.

Book Synopsis

A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler offers a blueprint for a creative life from the perspective of award-winning science-fiction writer and "MacArthur Genius" Octavia E. Butler. It is a collection of ideas about how to look, listen, breathe--how to be in the world. This book is about the creative process, but not on the page; its canvas is much larger. Author Lynell George not only engages the world that shaped Octavia E. Butler, she also explores the very specific processes through which Butler shaped herself--her unique process of self-making. It's about creating a life with what little you have--hand-me-down books, repurposed diaries, journals, stealing time to write in the middle of the night, making a small check stretch--bit by bit by bit. Highly visual and packed with photographs of Butler's ephemera, A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky draws the reader into Butler's world, creating a sense of unmatched intimacy with the deeply private writer.

There's a great resurgence of interest in Butler's work. Readers have been turning to her writing to make sense of contemporary chaos, to find a plot point that might bring clarity or calm. Her books have become the centerpiece of book-group discussions, while universities and entire cities have chosen her titles to anchor "Big Read," "Freshman Read," and "One Book/One City" programs. The interest has gone beyond the printed page; Ava DuVernay is adapting Butler's novel Dawn for television. A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky brings Octavia's prescient wisdom and careful thinking out of the novel and into the world.

A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky will be beloved by both scholars and fans of Butler, as well as aspiring writers and creatives who are looking for a model or a spark of inspiration. It offers a visual album of a creative life--a map that others can follow. Butler once wrote that science fiction was simply "a handful of earth, a handful of sky, and everything in between." This book offers a slice of the in between.

Review Quotes

"A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler ... is more than just a biography of the famed science-fiction writer who spent years working and living in Pasadena. It provides a glimpse of the creative life, offering ideas about how to look, listen and breathe-how to be in the world."
--Brenda Rees "Pasadena Now" (8/22/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"... a stark picture of a writer struggling against unbelievable odds to realize her stated dream of becoming a successful author of science fiction.
George has done aspiring writers an immense service by making the road map and method contained in Butler's papers accessible through this beautiful book."--Smaran Dayal "Harvard Review" (5/21/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"... an intimate and intensely sympathetic portrait ...
... a biography like few others, a free-floating, unstuck-in-time sojourn through Butler's life where we are by turns learning from her as the accomplished master (the certified, bona fide Genius) she would become while simultaneously rooting for her as a young person who is still figuring it all out, full of self-doubt and scared of what failure will mean for the rest of her life. This is a literary biography, a work of creation and imagination in its own right; George is not afraid to put the reader in its subject's mind, to intuit what her life must have felt like. It is as much a novel as it is scholarship.
They ought to hand this book out in schools."--Gerry Canavan "Los Angeles Review of Books" (6/19/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky is a book about the writer's life that will be relatable to many others pursuing creative work.

Ultimately, A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky became a book not just for Butler's fans. By focusing on how Butler wrote, how she handled the struggles that came her way and how she stayed focused on her goal while dealing with life, it's essential reading for any writer."--Liz Ohanesian "Pasadena Star-News" (10/11/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky spotlights Butler with the same verisimilitude that Butler herself used to show us the future of our world.
...
A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky accomplishes many missions simultaneously. Whether the reader wants to learn more about what made Octavia Butler so influential or if they want to learn how to be as influential as Octavia Butler, Lynell George provides a roadmap that reveals Octavia Butler's secret recipe for expanding space and time."--Mike Sonksen "Boom Magazine" (12/9/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"A must-read for all the fans of this great writer's work. We knew Octavia and loved her--this is such a great book on her life and the craft of writing."--Maxine Wally "W Magazine" (2/11/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"Butler's taskmaster perfectionism and relentless financial fears are on display throughout "A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky," which presents an intimate, vivid portrait of the writer's life detailed with extracts from Butler's notebooks, journals, letters, bills, calendars, marginalia, shopping and to-do lists and a mountain of library slips."--Bliss Bowen "Pasadena Weekly" (10/29/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"George's book exists to motivate readers to maximize their potential. Maybe that's not the worst thing; indeed, it's the kind of book Butler would have cherished, a template for regaining confidence and focus when things look particularly bleak."--Ed Park "Harper's Magazine" (2/1/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"George's book offers a portrait of the writer that is neither biography nor a collection of annotated ephemera. Instead, A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky defies the typical language of literary investigation to hover above and around the work. To read it is like watching a researcher--George herself--as she pores over the traces Butler left."--Niela Orr "Alta Online" (11/2/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"George's book shows how Butler expanded space and time through her discipline and concentration and offers a roadmap for those who want to do the same."--Mike Sonksen "L.A. Taco" (12/9/2020 12:00:00 AM)

"To read George's book is to see a little of how hard Butler had to work for her calm and crispness, how much pain she encased in its smooth, thin shell. ..."--Jenny Turner "London Review of Books" (2/18/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"Ultimately, the reader is left with a wealth of inspiration and a sense of familiarity with the world of the otherwise private writer."--Grace Felder "The Portalist" (9/24/2021 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Lynell George is a journalist and essayist. After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame was her first book of essays and photography, exploring the city where she grew up. As a staff writer for both the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Weekly, she focused on social issues, human behavior, visual arts, music, and literature. She taught journalism at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, in 2013 was named a USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellow, and in 2017 received the Huntington Library's Alan Jutzi Fellowship for her studies of California writer Octavia E. Butler. Her commentary, essays, and profiles have been featured in numerous news and feature outlets including the New York Times, Alta: Journal of California, Sierra, Smithsonian, Essence, Vibe, Preservation, and American Scholar. Her liner notes for Otis Redding Live at the Whiskey a Go Go earned a 2017 GRAMMY and her book, A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler, was a 2021 Hugo Award finalist.