For Simon , it's what you might call a parenthetical experience . Parentheses are like boomerangs , he thinks . They even look alike . They enter your life suddenly , cutting off your past from the present with one sharp , clean blow .

You're left drifting , alert but frozen with fear . Instead of taking action , you wait .

You wait for the boomerang to return and finish what it initiated so effortlessly .

In the end , you're waiting for a sign which you'll use to rationalize ...

Everything here seems exaggerated , immense , and the sun burns down and dries you up even when you're in the shade .

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It's a land for fearless people , people who aren't frightened by geography and passion far beyond the human scale .

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The first thing Simon did when he approached the southern edge of the Grand Canyon was vomit .

When he thinks of the Grand Canyon , Simon thinks of vertigo .

When he thinks of his failed marriage , too

Simon thinks to himself:
YOU'RE NOBODY IN THE US WITHOUT A CAR

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LUCKILY YOU'RE ALL RIGHT FOR MONEY .

THAT'S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN , TO LOSE EVERYTHING AND NOT EVEN HAVE A PENNY TO YOUR NAME .

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IT'S WRONG TO STEAL FROM YOUR JOB . YOU DON'T DO THAT , ASSHOLE .

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But he did . His corporate card had already been canceled .

Simon stole from his company -- from his family . He said he'd be back and he didn't return .

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He knows that eventually he'll go home .

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He's not that brave , that crazy , that hippie .

He's not Gaspar .

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His uncle Gaspar left to go to an agricultural convention in Portland , Oregon , and never returned .

Sign: BAGDAD CAFE

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No one ever heard from him again . If you're going to disappear , you should disappear completely . Make people suffer ...

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Simon is a coward because he is afraid of suffering , and he's even more afraid of causing others to suffer . Simon would not have been able to do what Natalia , his wife , did to him .

Or would he ?

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He thinks that throughout his life he's always been a good guy . He is a good guy .

When he got cancer and they removed one of his testicles , he didn't have a breakdown . He kept it together .

He didn't even waste any money on a psychologist . His parents can't complain . All his brothers and sisters have caused them much more trouble than he has .

This is all a sort of parenthesis . A parenthesis that will cost him dearly . But in the end they'11 forgive him . Or so he hopes . He has a good reason : his wife left him .

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She had a relationship with another man . She slept with another man .

With Luke Skywalker , his former best friend . Friend of the whole family .

The wind blows horizontally and moves slowly , like the Foreign Legion . In the distance the blacktop becomes quicksilver which looks utterly real . The wind carries no sound , only sand .

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Simon has been driving in circles , from state to state and back ...

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... Guided only by the names of the towns he visits ....

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Bisbee ...
Winona ...
Yuma ...
Coachella ...
Kayenta ...

He stops at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley , the lowest point in America .

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A small wooden plaque tells how many feet below sea level they are ....

Sign: Days Inn
Sigh: Route 6

Simon thinks the United States has permeated his subconscious .

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In his travels throughout the west , Simon often feels like he's been here before
Sign: TEXA..

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Simon studied cartography at a small university no one respects .

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He still doesn't have his degree . He did sit the exam . He can't understand why he's in a completely different business .
Sign: SPEED 65 MPH

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Or why he works for his father .
(Twentynine Palms ?singborey?)

Sign: WELLCOME TO THE CITY OF Twentynine Palms

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Barber: A STANDARD CUT , SIR ?


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Twentynine Palms is a military base .