Read this excerpt from "Collision Course
Now I felt like a friendless alien in this wide-open
suburb. The openness of it just made me feel small and
more alone. In our apartment in the Richmond District,
there were always people walking around, and the
neighborhood was always humming with fruit sellers,
taquerias, and restaurants, especially Chinese
restaurants and my favorite, dim sum bakeries. And
you could rely on the street noise and interesting
smells. The Geary and Clement bus lines ran late into
the night and started up again early in the morning.
Something was always happening. Our neighborhood
was alive. It was my dream childhood.
In this excerpt, the author uses descriptive language
mainly to