David Law

Los Angeles in the 1970s, with all its lazy pleasures and dreams, its crimes spoken and unspoken ... a family of entertainment professionals who create, and embody, the images the industry demands ... and the search for meaning and connection in a world of performance, desire and heartbreak. It's 1978, and a lonely teenage boy named Harris wanders the San Fernando Valley streets. After a traumatic assault, he's searching for meaning and purpose in the cars of men who pick him up at strip mall parking lots. When one of his rides asks if he'd like to be photographed, he discovers a newfound sense of power and control by appearing in low-budget gay porn loops. Meanwhile, across town, the well-respected actress Eva Loesch is also wandering. An ingenue in the 1950s, comedienne in the 60s, she's now reduced to instant coffee commercials - until she gets a chance to join the hit TV series Bowman. With her star on the rise, she's able to exert her own power and control, especially over her grown daughter and two grandchildren - one of whom, Harris, has become involved in some extracurricular activities she's not entirely sure of. As she warns the family that her reputation as television's first woman DA can't risk being tarnished, Harris has found his own underground reputation, as scruffy, raunchy "Kevin," the embodiment of a laconic southern California attitude that's suddenly, wildly in demand. But the forces that shape their destinies turn out to be more treacherous than either of them imagines. As their careers intertwine -- and Harris loses control of his own -- their dueling ambitions threaten to bring down the carefully constructed lives, and images, they both worked so hard to create. Equal parts rueful humor and human heartbreak, A Phantasmagorical Machine is the story of a family of survivors and performers, the city that made them, and an exploration of sexuality and identity. One day, years after the unresolved events of his youth, Harris opens a magazine to discover his own obituary - and at last, the crimes and mysteries of the past reveal themselves, and the search for who died in a lonely desert trailer brings the whole family together - with its eccentric and outrageous circle of friends, lovers and assorted hangers-on - to finally reckon with the meaning of love, attachment, kindness and forgiving.

A Phantasmagorical Machine

Two young sailors, Eric and Tom, and two Spanish senoritas, Pilar and Lola, find romance against the stunning backdrop of southern Spain. After receiving a Dear John Letter, Eric is a failure without friends, except for Tom, his new running mate who insists on bringing Eric out of his shell as they arrive to their Navy ship, a submarine tender berthed at the Rota, Spain naval base with submarines tied up alongside for service and repairs. Finally, Eric agrees to go on a blind date with Pilar, a stunning local Latin beauty with enchanting Spanish eyes. For Eric, the transformation is stunning. As a talented photographer’s mate, he literally falls head over heels for his newfound love and, Spain, as he takes to photographing everything southern Spain has to offer. Eric eventually learns that his grandmother who raised him is dying of Alzheimer’s disease back in the States. Touching her best he can, he writes many heartfelt letters about his challenging courtship with Pilar as he follows his heart and searches for his future.

Into the Light of Day

Stephen Gill

"As an introductory text, The Global Political Economy has much to offer. It presents theoretical material clearly and concisely, offers an up-to-date review of the academic literature, and reviews a wide range of issues current in policy circles."--Thomas Ilgen, Pitzer College, Perspective.

Perspectives, Problems, and Policies

The Global Political Economy

Law develops his theory of inspiration starting with texts as varied as Virgil's Aeneid and Shakespeare's plays before focusing on the Bible. Following Karl Jaspers, Law views all human knowledge as having limits beyond which there exists the Transcendent. He believes that there are symbols, signs and characters-or "ciphers"-that inhabit religion and art and which point beyond these horizons. Perceiving these is at the heart of inspiration and the knowledge of God. For Law, the key to the question of inspiration and the Bible lies with understanding the reader's encounter with these ciphers, the supreme of which is Christ.

Inspiration

Two young sailors, Eric and Tom, and two Spanish senoritas, Pilar and Lola, find romance against the stunning backdrop of southern Spain. After receiving a Dear John Letter, Eric is a failure without friends, except for Tom, his new running mate who insists on bringing Eric out of his shell as they arrive to their Navy ship, a submarine tender berthed at the Rota, Spain naval base with submarines tied up alongside for service and repairs. Finally, Eric agrees to go on a blind date with Pilar, a stunning local Latin beauty with enchanting Spanish eyes. For Eric, the transformation is stunning. As a talented photographer's mate, he literally falls head over heels for his newfound love and, Spain, as he takes to photographing everything southern Spain has to offer. Eric eventually learns that his grandmother who raised him is dying of Alzheimer's disease back in the States. Touching her best he can, he writes many heartfelt letters about his challenging courtship with Pilar as he follows his heart and searches for his future.

David Law

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