In Volume 2 of Barry Smolin's trilogy The Miranda Complex, Lance Atlas is still sitting at the La Brea Tar Pits midway through the summer of 1979 after having run into Miranda Savitch at a party the night before. Here he focuses on a year that spans the summer of 1976 to the summer of 1977, a year of new awakenings and massive distractions, the fulcrum upon which everything balances and against which everything is measured. Los Angeles is once again the backdrop and the musical soundtrack is vintage cool-nerd. This time 'round, Lance is willing to lose it all, himself included. New friends and old flames abound as does a very seductive oblivion. His muses point the way upward.