Indian Springs, Nevada (pop 991), at the edge of the Mojave, is “downtown" to three institutions: 

— Creech Air Force Base, home to drone operators in their air-conditioned trailers, 

— High Desert State Prison, Nevada’s largest, newest, and most modern, and 

— the Sekhmet Temple of Goddess Spirituality, a women’s community in the desert. 

All three are concerned with violence against women. This remarkable combination is the setting for some very confused relations among four protagonists, in a plot modeled on Cervantes and Goethe. They are all musicians, and music maps their gnarly way throughout.

About the Author

Marc Estrin is a writer, cellist, and political activist. Speckled Vanities was conceived in a skull wearing the first and second hats, but a Google map plunked the third hat on it right quick.