Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: A Novel

  The old detective had a point, thinks Eliot. I made a great mistake taking on a journey such as this. But just as nature’s mutations spawn new branches of life better able to adapt to changes in a dynamic world, so too may new life spring from this flawed union and find a foothold in the sands of Avernus. What new myths will we create to replace the ones that no longer apply?

  “Eliot, I need you,” she calls sharply from the cabin.

  “All right,” he tells her, looking back now that they’re almost out of the harbor. “I’m coming.”

  Acknowledgments

  A couple of years ago, I was incapacitated by a painful injury in my lower back. Thankfully, my mother was kind enough to fly out to Los Angeles and look after me for the months it would take to recover. While bedridden, when I was unable even to pick up my head and see the screen on my laptop as it rested on my stomach, I somehow, through a fog of painkillers, typed out the first few drafts of this story. Without my mother’s help, I never would have been able to manage the ordeal of my injury let alone write a novel during that time.

  Others were also extremely helpful in getting me back on my feet, especially Andrew McGlothin, Megan McGrath, Blake Lindsley, Christine Stauber, Dr. David Schechter, Arnold Bloch, Jake Goldberger, Jordan Ramer, Sandra Hoffman, Sagiv Rosano, Vanessa Coifman, the Schnur family, and my brother Jonathan. My ex-girlfriend Christina Blazek visited with her daughter Mekenna and their dog to cheer me up. My manager, John Tomko, read the initial drafts and showed confidence in the material. My agent, Ethan Ellenberg, gave invaluable advice as to how to bring the story home.

  I’d also like to thank my editor Brendan Deneen for granting me this opportunity. Thanks to my copy editor Jane Liddle, Nicole Sohl at Thomas Dunne Books, Shari Smiley at Resolution, my attorney Kim Jaime, and my secret weapons, Andy Nordvall and Marat Bokov. I thank my family and all my friends and hope this humble achievement is worthy of their love and support.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Part One

  One: Heartbeats and Spinners

  Two: A Salesman

  Three: The Younger Brother

  Four: Camilla’s Brothel

  Five: The Situation on Beverly

  Six: Enter the Detective

  Seven: Drip Kills

  Part Two

  Eight: Made in Heron

  Nine: Orpheus and Eurydice

  Ten: A Date

  Eleven: Pound’s Antiques

  Twelve: The Gun Club

  Thirteen: Pound’s Antiques II

  Fourteen: Underground

  Part Three

  Fifteen: The Hunt

  Sixteen: Rampart Division

  Seventeen: The Standard

  Eighteen: Yoshiko

  Nineteen: An Unexpected Guest

  Twenty: The Catch Basin

  Twenty-One: Titty Fat

  Twenty-Two: The Chumash Resort and Casino

  Twenty-Three: Martha

  Twenty-Four: The Boat

  Twenty-Five: Pound’s House

  Twenty-Six: A Drip Deal

  Twenty-Seven: Office Politics

  Twenty-Eight: A Spectacle

  Twenty-Nine: Lorca

  Thirty: Manhunt

  Thirty-One: Blumenthal

  Thirty-Two: A Confession

  Thirty-Three: The Girl

  Thirty-Four: Apocalypse

  Thirty-Five: The Canal

  Epilogue: Avernus

  Acknowledgments