Birmingham, 35 Miles

Birmingham, 35 Miles is the debut novel by Georgia native James Braziel, published in 2008. It is an apocalyptic fantasy in which much of the lower south is ravaged by a hole in the ozone layer, but Birmingham is, by chance, spared from drought. Hero Matthew Harrison, unable to make a living mining clay, embarks on an odyssey to the Magic City, but is hampered by the city's armed guards and his conflicted feelings for home.

The book began as a short story Braziel penned in 1992 while he was a student at Bowling Green State University. He began expanding it into a novel in 2000, inspired by the ongoing water resources conflict between Georgia and Alabama.

References

• Braziel, James (2008) Birmingham, 35 Miles. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 055338502X