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Imperial Library
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Index
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Book One: Texas: In which Lyle Clemens is born to Sylvia Love, and Fate sets out on its wayward course.
Chapter One
1 Lyle Clemens is delivered, alive; how he came to be born. The horror at the Miss Rio Escondido Beauty Pageant is recalled briefly.
2 A view of Rio Escondido, where it all began.
3 A move back in time, before Lyle’s birth. Eulah Love prepares to speak in tongues, and a golden voice arouses hope.
4 Sylvia’s aspirations for a happy life. A way out.
5 Possible intrusions on the way to the pageant.
6 Further back in time. The “sexy Chicano” introduces Sylvia to the Catholic church and its glamorous saints.
7 Can virginity be lost twice? A welcome confusion of memories.
8 How Sylvia Love became Miss Rio Escondido. The full horror at the Miss Alamito Beauty Pageant.
9 The beginning of the aftermath.
Chapter Two
1 A return to the time of Lyle’s birth. A prediction is altered into a new prophecy.
2 How Sylvia met Clarita. Clarita’s duel with Eulah Love.
3 Still back in time, Lyle Clemens the First enters, resurrecting smothered hope.
4 The passion of Lyle Clemens the First and Sylvia Love.
5 The courtship of Sylvia Love.
6 A warning is adjusted.
7 The deepening prospect of happiness.
8 Eulah Love invades again.
9 Eulah’s dramatic speech in tongues as she’s slain in the spirit.
10 Who is Sylvia’s father?
11 A white rose is presented.
12 A figure from the past is summoned.
13 Sylvia’s motives. Clarita struggles with an ethical consideration.
14 A vine is resurrected in the house of curses.
Chapter Three
1 A return to Sylvia’s bedside. A pending question is asked.
2 A pullback in time; Clarita’s flight to the hills of Chihuahua; the ravages of Pancho Villa; and an apparition by the Holy Virgin Guadalupe.
3 A pause in Clarita’s recollections. An unwelcome question occurs to Sylvia Love.
4 An injustice at the Such Is Life Café.
5 An adjustment of memories.
6 The present moves on. Lyle the Second grows up quickly and speaks an unwelcome word.
7 A disturbing question.
8 A gift and a vow.
9 About the unique nature and manifestations of intelligence.
10 Lyle’s education is taken over by a firm authority.
11 Clarita upholds em-pa-thy for the down-trotten.
12 Lyle’s extended education.
13 Time passes, obscuring Clarita’s warning.
14 A startling revelation.
Chapter Four
1 Why Lyle Clemens did not become a “geek.”
2 The unique nature of amoebas, according to Miss Stowe.
3 A discovery in the vacant lot.
4 Lyle’s unique popularity is rewarded; Sylvia Love responds. A prophetic warning from Clarita.
5 The eye of the beholder.
6 About love, hate, and desire, and the invisible demarcation that separates them.
7 A declaration of undying love.
8 Unwelcome news, quiet plotting.
9 A mysterious confrontation.
Chapter Five
1 Lyle’s nature is further manifested.
2 A command from beyond the grave?
3 On the perils of not being a geek.
4 A lesson well learned.
5 The call of duty.
6 Out of the sad decline of Sylvia Love, a question about amazing grace.
7 What is strange?
8 A definition of where love is and isn’t, according to Rose. A lesson well taught, well learned.
9 Can King David’s serenade withstand the passage of time?
Chapter Six
1 The mystery of a grain of sand. A painful confession.
2 A fierce rivalry stirs in Rio Escondido.
3 A warning justified. Rose is heard from again.
4 An odd connection, and a loving acknowledgment.
5 A startling possibility?
6 The past catches up with Sylvia Love.
Chapter Seven
1 A confrontation, and a reminder of what might have been.
2 A secret sortie into Sylvia’s past yields new questions.
3 And still more mystery.
4 A melancholy interlude. A firm decision is made, the risks not considered.
5 A passionate confrontation.
6 Has Lyle the First returned?
7 A return to The Gathering of Souls with Brother Bud and Sister Sis.
8 Amid frenzy a star is born.
Chapter Eight
1 Eulah’s curse at bay. Lyle does the preacher-strut, guided by Rose.
2 The origin of the preacher-strut, according to the angels, Sister Sis, and Brother Bud. A guarded warning from Sister Matilda of the Golden Voice.
3 Sister Matilda meets Clarita and delivers a letter of further warning.
4 Another warning at the Texas Grand Hotel.
Chapter Nine
1 Considerations about what constitutes grace. When is it amazing? Intimations of a secret fraught with danger.
2 A necessary dramatic pause before an abrupt interruption.
3 An invitation from the Lord sent through Brother Bud and Sister Sis.
4 The matter of Maria is resumed; a frightening possibility is reconsidered.
5 A persistent ghost returns, even more powerful.
6 A grave decision.
7 The true color of Jesus.
8 A firmed position. A betrayal announced.
9 The unsettling mystery of Sister Matilda.
10 Some thoughts about farewells.
11 The saddest farewell.
12 A litany of farewells.
Book Two: Hollywood, the Lord’s Headquarters in Anaheim, and an Unexpected Detour: In which disparate lives wait to entangle Lyle’s.
Chapter Ten
1 On the perfection of coincidences, here involving Mr. and Mrs. Renquist, Tarah Worth, and considerations about the Valley of the Dolls.
2 Another impossible connection develops in Encino, California.
3 A decisive meeting with Lenora Stern, Rusty Blake, and Tarah Worth. The great Liz Smith invoked.
Chapter Eleven
1 The flight to the City of Angels, or more accurately to the Lord’s Headquarters.
2 Someone secret knows Lyle’s whereabouts.
3 Return to the Valley of the Dolls
4 A poolside encounter.
5 The Lord’s Cowboy is born.
Chapter Twelve
1 A troubling letter is received, and Love Letters to Jesus are solicited.
2 The Lord’s Cowboy performs.
3 The ascent of the Lord’s Cowboy.
4 The Lord’s message reinterpreted.
5 A column poised to assure a triumph.
6 A matter of morality considered.
7 At the Lord’s Bank.
8 The predicament of the Lord’s Cowboy.
Chapter Thirteen
1 Crisis at Spago, and everyone is there.
2 Reverberations out of the horror at Spago.
3 In which the Lord works His mysterious ways.
4 God’s mysterious ways extend.
5 Lyle in jail with Mr. Magwitch.
6 Mr. Cowboy is born on the road.
Chapter Fourteen
1 An unexpected detour. The vagaries of chance.
2 In which is encountered a reflection of Lyle’s goddamned son-of-a-bitch father.
3 Some considerations about magic and illusion, and intrusive reality.
4 A question of love.
5 Back to the glorious City of Angels.
Book Three: Los Angeles: In which Lyle Clemens finds himself in the City of Angels.
Chapter Fifteen
1 Lyle relies on his instincts and Clarita’s prayer, and encounters BABETTE.
2 Lyle discovers Hollywood Boulevard. His excursions about the city; its sights, excitement, and grave dangers.
3 An essential decision about life and living.
4 Has Lyle met BABETTE during the savage attack of the peacock at Huey’s Mansion?
Chapter Sixteen
1 Maria’s inviolate decision.
2 A film sequel to a great novel changes yet again.
3 Lyle’s flight from Huey’s Mansion and an unexpected angel of mercy appears.
4 The search is on for the Mystery Cowboy.
5 Reverberations.
6 Still more reverberations.
7 Unwanted fame.
8 Em-path-y for down-trotten lost angels.
Chapter Seventeen
1 A windy day in Rio Escondido.
2 In which an invitation assures the site of the gimmick.
3 Some observations about hiding.
4 An untimely introduction.
5 Information is supplied, but matters remain unexplained.
6 The revelation of duplicity.
7 Thoughtful moments, a twinge of sadness, and a familiar voice.
Chapter Eighteen
1 A sordid development to be resolved. Mr. Scala in pursuit.
2 A timely meaning for the word “dolls.” Tarah Worth recognizes another person, herself.
3 The new Tarah Worth moves forward with her plan; an emergency call to her psychic.
4 A declaration.
5 An expected unexpected.
6 A critical quandary.
7 A crucial decision.
Chapter Nineteen
1 The pending matter of Maria’s broken heart.
2 More speculation about the Mystery Cowboy.
3 A matter of good luck kept pending.
4 A violent interlude.
5 Lyle sees more of the world.
6 Back on the Boulevard—
7 A bittersweet reunion at Musso & Frank’s.
Chapter Twenty
1 Yet another unexpected turn.
2 A move back in time to learn what Raul told Lyle, involving more of life’s impossible coincidences.
3 Back in Lyle’s apartment—
4 The past invades the present.
5 A confrontation.
6 A discovery.
7 A promise, this one to be kept.
Chapter Twenty-One
1 The persistence of the past.
2 A type of meanness exemplified.
3 A plan is put into motion.
4 The next step.
5 The state of Lyle’s troubled heart.
6 The matter of fate.
7 Back in Rio Escondido—
8 An ill-timed development?
9 Growing concern about the truth of the fabulous columnist’s absence.
Chapter Twenty-Two
1 A new kind of love comes to Sylvia.
2 A comeback.
3 Anxiety about Liz Smith’s absence.
4 The monumental Hollywood event nears.
5 The crucial step in Tarah’s plot is taken.
6 The scheme is hatched.
7 The confirmation of a possible ally.
8 The triumphant return!
9 And a sad return.
Chapter Twenty-Three
1 The Academy Awards! The terrible deception.
2 A true report.
3 The saddest event of all.
4 A naked cowboy.
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