When the craziness that comes with the summer heat in LA gets into your
bones, fraying friendships it makes even thought a chore. Three friends try to
escape, taking a road trip to someplace--to the craziness of Lake Tahoe, or maybe
to a mountain without the weight of a name.
.
A thick layer of gray hung over the city for days. At night, the heat radiated by the concrete tried to escape to the coolness of the black sky but the clouds slapped it back down along the asphalt where it began reheating the overheated city. Air conditioners snapped on by the thousands, sapping the life from the city's energy grid and dumping the collected heat, along with the heat the air conditioners themselves generated, down into the sweltering streets.
Los Angeles often got warm. We expected warm, but this was hot; an unrelenting simmer that never let you forget the heat. Inside this natural and manmade convection oven, the inevitable turmoil could be seen after three days: the city began losing its precarious and precious balance. The swelter amplified everything that was jittery, anxious and edgy; and there was much on the street that was jittery, anxious and edgy. The nights became a time for thinking, especially about what was wrong. And about what could be different.
In fact, there was no escape from the heat or the madness that went with it beyond the expediency of leaving. Most couldn't leave their jobs and homes and run to cooler environs, but the rich became scarce. Beverly Hills was abandoned to security guards, maids and groundkeepers. And everyone who stayed fought the same battle. No socioeconomic group, no governmentally sanctioned, nor unofficial, ethnic minority or majority had genes strong enough or technology adequate to hold the craziness at bay. At the best of times, when summer comes to the city, the cops will tell you, life is a bitch.
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French
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Already translated.
Translated by Pedro Pablo Perez Aguero
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German
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Already translated.
Translated by Pedro Pablo Perez Aguero
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Italian
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Already translated.
Translated by Pedro Pablo Perez Aguero
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Dandara Lemos
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Author review: I've seldom worked with a more responsive translator. Dandara is a joy to work with. |
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Pedro Pablo Perez Aguero
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Author review: A reliable and thorough translator. |
