The Devil’s Punchbowl: A Cultural & Geographical Map of California Today is an anthology edited by Red Hen Press’s Managing Editor, Kate Gale, and Los Angeles Times reporter and editor Veronique de Turenne. Essays were commissioned from writers living in California, who were asked to reflect on an aspect of the state’s geography, natural or man-made: Alcatraz Island and its prison; Manzanar and Mt. Whitney; Big Sur and Joshua Tree; Los Angeles’ oil derricks and Mountain View’s Google headquarters; the farms of the Central Valley and the redwoods of the Northern Coastland. Does Alcatraz, from its important role in Native American activist history to today’s defunct prison, retain meaning beyond a tourist attraction? How is the expanding border fence between Southern California and Mexico affecting, economically and psychologically, the individuals who live near it? California’s outsized cultural and economic impact on both our country and the rest of the world necessitate a continual taking stock, to prevent losing ourselves in the state’s constant transformations. The Devil’s Punchbowl captures a pivotal time in our country’s history, as some of the state’s most recognized, complex, and accomplished writers describe their relationship with California’s ever-changing geographic, economic, and psychic landscape.
