A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia Butler

In 2008, Octavia E. Butler’s archive of more than 8,000 items went to the Huntington Library in Pasadena, CA. Journalist essayist George (After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame) had the privilege to comb through it all. George’s book is not a biography or study of Butler’s literary legacy, but an examination of the process by which head-in-the-clouds Estelle transformed into groundbreaking Octavia. Estelle was already writing in cast-off journals her mother brought home from domestic jobs. One day while doing Estelles’s hair, her mother offhandedly remarked that maybe Estelle would be a writer. The fuse was lit. Butler begins making lists, reading everything, writing stories and notes to herself, trying to figure out how to become a writer. Later, more lists—planning, budget, needs. Calculating, always, to facilitate maximum writing time. Butler’s archive shows where single-minded dedication can lead.