Index

• Anomaly, 19

• Alchemy, 8

• Assimilation, 45

• Baby, 43, 112, 114, 116–120

• Banality, 59

• Bald spot, 118

• Beeswax, 12–13

• Bible, 35, 132, 141–142

• Blackbird, 73

• Blockage

  • Food induced, 64

  • Mental, 59, 61, 63, 70–71

• Blunt, 41, 43

• Bocce ball, 105–106

• Boombox, 40

• Boots

  • American, 66

  • Good, 32

  • Patent leather, 59

• Border

  • As drug-trafficking route, 78

  • Deployment of troops to, 22

  • Porous, 46

• Boundaries, 42, 78

• Breakup, 104–106

• Budweiser, 73, 118

• Burning Man, 29

• Cake, 110, 112, 113, 115, 136

• Canaries, 62

• Caravan, 22, 47

• Cholera, 64

• Clay, 72, 74

• Clue, 19, 149

• Colonialism, 42, 126

• Coney Island, 15

• Couples, 43, 129, 147–149

• Crack, 46

• Death

  • Anticipation of, 24, 28–31, 40–41, 48

  • Figurative uses of, 28, 44, 63, 133

  • Of family members, 62, 73, 118

• Debt, 43

• Diaries, 8–13, 59–71, 152

• Disappointment, 112, 115, 146

• Divorce, 105, 116–120, 138, 147–148

• Dodgers, 73

• Dogs, 28, 34–37, 67–70, 147–148

• Doily, 115

• Doodles, 66

• Dreams

  • Of a brothel, 65

  • Political, 43

• Dust, 29, 41, 52, 106, 110, 132

• Elegy, 135, 146

• Empathy, 111, 149

• Emptiness, 61, 66, 135

• Escapes, 48, 60–62

• Intimacy

  • False, 119

  • Worn off, 26

• Fame, 44

• Fantasy

  • Of a grandmother's apartment, 41

  • Of California, 28

  • Of sex, 119

• Father

  • Demanding, 62

  • Drinking, 117, 137

  • Shrinking, 62

• Fermentation, 8–13

• Flying, 73–74, 106

• Gangs

  • International art-selling, 68

  • With knives, 44

• Gaze, 41, 43, 59, 66, 69–70, 130

• Ghost

  • Of an uncle, 72

  • Riding trains, 74

  • Warning, 54

• Grateful Dead, 28–29

• Grief, 73, 130

• Heaven, 32–36, 106

• Hindenburg, 110

• Hurricane

  • Dorian, 21

  • Sandy, 15

• Icon

  • Byzantine, 107

  • Virgen Milagrosa, 40

• Illness

  • Of a father, 62

  • Of a mother, 118

• Industrial Age, 27

• Inheritance, 47, 74, 116

• Insomnia, 62, 71

• Jealousy, 112

• Kafka, Franz, 58–71

• Kalasha, 78, 98–99

• Kudzu, 54

• Lace, 116

• Lemonade, 41

• Lock, 43

• Looney Tunes, 26

• Lottery tickets, 73

• Map

  • Boils on body as, 60

  • "Inner city" as, 41

  • Of circular reasoning, 20–23

  • Of the self, 132

  • Sewed by mother, 74

  • Tongue used as, 27

• Misery, 59, 119, 146

• Monotony, 63

• Mouth, 24–31, 66, 107, 116, 118–119, 135

• Music

  • Merengue, 40, 44

  • Teenage harmonies, 45

• Nabokov, Vladimir, 24

• Neighbors, 43–46, 56, 107, 112–113

• Netflix, 149

• North Star, 148

• Ocean, 52, 72, 74, 119

• Paperwork, 117

• Paradox, 65

• Parents, 42–44, 48, 62, 106, 110, 116–117, 120, 136, 139, 144, 146

• Passports, 44, 78, 104

• Percocet, 27

• pH, 10

• Pills, 31

• Plagues, 40, 105, 107

• Polytheism, 78

• Postcards, 60, 61, 63, 68–69

• Premonition, 24

• Purgatory, 31

• Religion, 78–79, 119, 127, 134, 140–146

• Roots, 26, 152

• Rosetta Stone, 27

• Rumors, 40, 152

• Scaffolding, 61, 132

• Scars, 40, 44

• Sex

  • Dutiful, 117

  • Imagined, 119

  • Sticky, 105

• Sharpie, 21

• Shoes

  • Baby, 112, 115

  • Light–up, 17

• Showtime, 147

• Slot machines, 15

• Snapple, 26

• Teapot, 120

• Teeth, 24, 36, 106

• Theft, 69

• Thermometer, 52, 116, 119

• Thunder, 117, 152

• Tourists, 58–71

• Trump, Donald, 20–23, 146

• United Airlines, 105

• Universal Studios, 124

• Vacations, 30, 59, 62–63, 72, 104–107

• VH1, 147

• Viagra, 29

• Waste, 11

• Wig, 123

• War, 111, 113, 139, 152

• Wedding, 55, 60, 70, 109, 118, 120, 137, 139, 147

• Weegee, 24

• Women

  • Challenging expectations, 137

  • Enslaved, 41, 49

  • Gossiping, 152

  • Single, 104–106, 116–120

• Yak, 78

• Yeats, W. B., 30