Secret Stream

About this book

In Héctor Tobar short story, "Secret Stream," Nathan and Sofia both find solace in "geeky" obsessions—for him bicycling and for her tracking streams. After a chance encounter, they jaunt together through Los Angeles and try to connect, despite their loner tendencies. The story visits garbage dumps and country club golf courses, crisp mansions and "eroded asphalt" in a startling portrait of a city and its inhabitants. In his recommendation, Oscar Villalon hits on the story's "sad knowledge that maybe this can't last"— an idea that propels the prose toward its powerfully rendered final scenes.