Plight of the Poet
the writing of Bailey Stone Barnard
In Part Two: City of Wayward Angels, things really start heating up for the narrator, who begins spiraling toward disaster with his bona fide Malibu cougar, the unrequited love of his life, his bourgeoning career, and so much more. And now, mental illness and other more sordid forms of madness are piling up all around him, as well as his self-destructive tendencies, from which he just canʼt seem to escape. For better or worse, retribution is coming for him and time is running out. No, this isnʼt the end for our poor narrator, but it is certainly the end of the beginning.
Part One: 26 Miles of Scenic Beauty recounts the narrator's time in Malibu working for a luxury magazine amid the Great Recession while making meager editorial wages, struggling to keep his beachside guest apartment, pining after an old high school flame, and starting an affair with a bona fide Malibu cougar.
And that's just the beginning.
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