... middle of the worst drought of the twentieth century, Midwesterners took refuge in their homes as gritsandblasted the paint and pitted the glass on their automobiles. Leila swept red dust off the ... hisgrandfather in West Point, Warren could hear the background drone of the ravenous hoppers. At their worst,they consumed fence posts, the laundry on the clothesline, and finally one another, ... aname. He lined them up on the flat edge at the back of the tub. Then he clicked the stopwatch just as heswept the marbles into the water. They raced down the porcelain slope, clicking and rattling,...