When I picture Washington, I see fog drifting through trees on mountains, muddy and mossy rainforests, flashy skyscrapers filled with tech workers, arid fields with giant windmills, winding forest roads with small general stores, cherry blossoms, shipping containers at the port … the list goes on.
That’s why I get a thrill reading books that capture Washington’s essence. And I’m not talking about the Raymond Carver stories that skirt around the vaguely-Pacific-Northwest setting in devotion to characters and interpersonal relationships (though I’m a sucker for those, too). I’m talking about literary odes to Washington.