He will fall.
His lips will close in a wry smile that turns suddenly sublime.
Above him are no stars. The moon not yet down. The sun not yet risen. The pink-blue-black dust swirls and becomes his sky. No ascent to heaven. No descent to hell. No more questions without answers. No more howls for meaning.
At last, and forever, peace.
APPENDICES
ALL THE CHARACTERS FIT TO PRINT
PRIMARY CHARACTERS in order of appearance
SALOME SAVANT (b. 1943) Artist.
MOSES TEUMER (b. 1958) History professor.
ALCHEMY SAVANT (b. 1971) Rock star.
AMBITIOUS MINDSWALLOW (b. Ricky McFinn, 1974) Founding member of the Insatiables.
LALUNA (MARIA APPELIAN) (b. 1990) Musician, muse, and mother.
PERSEPHONE SAVANT (b. 2013) Child of the Moon.
SECONDARY CHARACTERS alphabetically by first name
A (b. 1960) Czech exile living in Berlin. Friend of Salome.
ABSURDA NIGHTINGALE (b. Amanda Akin, 1968) Founding member of the Insatiables.
AKINS FAMILY Absurda’s family in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Sister: Heather, mother: Ginny, father: Jimmy, Sr.
ALEXANDER HOLENCRAFT (b. 1952) Founder of I, Me, Mine magazine. Coolhunter. Paramour of Salome’s.
AMY LOO (b. 1990) Cofounder of riteplay.com, which was funded by Alchemy.
ANDREW PULLHAM-LARGE (b. 1964) Oxford-educated Englishman. Cofounder of Surface-to-Air group that manages the Insatiables.
ART LEMCZEK (b. 1925) Alcoholic friend of Salome’s from Orient Point.
BEN BUTTERWORTH (b. 1935) Originator of RANT therapy. Moses and Alchemy’s therapist.
BERNARD RUGGLES (b. 1938) Salome’s doctor for more than thirty years at Collier Layne.
BLIND LEMON SOCRATES (b. 1914) Novelist, avant-garde filmmaker, friend of Nathaniel.
BOHEMIAN SCOFFLAW (b. circa 1964) Fictional 1960s radical.
BRYN SMITHSON (b. 1989) Pharmaceuticals saleswoman. Girlfriend of Mindswallow.
CAMILLE JAVAL (b. 1980) Actress in Paris by Night. Girlfriend of Mindswallow.
CARLOTTA SOLANO (b. 1985) Party planner. Wife of Mindswallow.
DEWEY WINSLOW (b. 1973) Partner with Elizabeth Borden in political management firm.
ELIZABETH BORDEN (b. 1980) Partner with Dewey Winslow in political management firm.
EVIE-ANNE BAXTER (b. 1982) Student at SCCAM. Musician.
FALSTAFFA (b. 1963) Bodyguard and roadie for the Insatiables.
FRANK PETERS (b. 1950) Art critic. Catalyst in securing Salome’s Hammer Museum exhibition.
FRANKY NOVALINO (b. 1974) Childhood friend of Mindswallow’s from Flushing.
GODFREY BARKER (b. 1979) High priest of the Church of Cosmological Kinetics.
GRETA GARBO (b. 1905) Actress.
GUS SAVANT (b. 1915) Farmer on Orient Point, Long Island. Salome’s father.
HANK FIELDING (b. 1938) Moses’s oncologist. BA in eighteenth-century English literature from Johns Hopkins.
HANNAH TEUMER (b. 1937) Lawyer with Bickley & Schuster. Mother of Moses. Wife of Malcolm.
HEINRICHA VON PRIEST (b. 1966) Lead singer of the Wannaseeyas in Berlin. Friend of Salome.
HILDA SAVANT (b. 1920) Salome’s mother.
HUGO BOLLATANSKI (b. 1965) Lawyer and boyfriend of Absurda.
JACK CROUSE (b. Date uncertain) Movie actor. Friend of Laluna. Member of the Church of Cosmological Kinetics.
JAY BERNES (b. 1967) Art consultant. Moses’s wife. Gifter of the Book of J.
KIM DOOLEY (b. 1973) Paralegal. Law school education was funded by the Insatiables. Later their legal council.
KYLE (b. 1941) Childhood friend of Salome’s who died in a car accident.
LABAN LIVELY (b. 1920) Friend of Malcolm Teumer and William Bickley, Sr. Worked for OSS and CIA.
LESLIE TALLENT (b. 1940) Art critic and Salome’s first champion.
LEVI FURSTENBLUM (b. 1917) Author of Chambers of Commerce and Mystical Mistakes. Holocaust survivor.
LILY FAIRMONT (b. 1928) Salome’s Los Angeles gallerist.
LOUISE URBAN VULTER (b. 1968) Radio talk-show host. Senator from Arizona.
LUX DELUXE (b. Lionel Bradshaw, 1969) Founding member of the Insatiables.
MALCOLM TEUMER (b. 1921) Father of Moses. Husband of Hannah.
MARCEL DUCHAMP (b. 1887) Artist and chess player.
MARLENE PASSANT (b. 1956) French writer, gallerist, and supporter of Salome.
MARTY (b. 1970) Bodyguard and roadie for the Insatiables.
McFINN FAMILY from Flushing, Queens. Sister: Bonnie, brother: Lenny.
MURRAY GIBBON (b. 1935) Gallerist. Salome’s longtime art dealer.
MYRON HORRWICH (b. 1932) Conceptual artist and early lover of Salome’s.
NATHANIEL BROCKTON (b. 1937) Political activist. Salome’s longtime companion.
PARNELL PALMER (b. 1980) Government investigator with the Committee on Anti-American Activities.
PHILIP BENT (b. 1947) Lead singer of British band The Baddists. Alchemy’s father.
RAPHAEL URSO (b. 1930) Poet and friend of Nathaniel and Salome.
ROBERT SLOCUM (b. 1960) Dean of Moses’s department at SCCAM.
SHEIK FAMILY (b. Sheikstein) Founders of Kasbah Records, the Insatiables’ first record company. Buddy (b. 1945), Randy (b. 1948), and Walter (b. 1953)
SIDONNA CHERRY (b. Date unknown — and likes it that way) L.A.-based detective.
SILKY TRESPASS (b. 1976) Member of Come Queens. Lead guitarist of the Insatiables 2004–08. Played with Absurda in the Mendietas.
SOMERSBY (b. 1953) Friend of Salome’s when she lived in Virginia.
SPENCER FRIEBERG (b. 1988) Cofounder of riteplay.com, which was funded by Alchemy.
STEPHAN SONTAG (aka Shockula, b. 1921) Salome’s first therapist at Collier Layne.
SUE WARFIELD (b. 1960) Beverly Hills native. Cofounder of Surface-to-Air group that managed the Insatiables.
TRUDY CHAMOUN (b. 1963) Former photographer. Yoga instructor who lives in Jerome, Arizona.
TRYX (b. 1960) Dutch curator and late-life lover of Salome.
WILLIAM (BICKS) BICKELY, SR. (b. 1893) Founding partner of Bickley & Schuster. Conservator of Salome’s estate.
WILLIAM (BILLY) BICKELY, JR. (b. 1926) Partner in Bickley & Schuster. Second conservator of Salome’s estate.
WILLIAM BICKLEY III (b. 1956) Partner in Bickley & Schuster.
XTINE BLACK (b. 1940) Photographer. Lover/friend of Salome. Lives in Chelsea Hotel.
Z (b. 1959) Czech exile living in Berlin. Friend of Salome.
ZOOEY BELLOWS (b. 1982) Salome’s last doctor at Collier Layne.