The Beginning
The story begins with a fifty-three old woman enticing her husband into sexual activity. She rummages through their “sex drawer” and is surprised to find a gun there nestled among the usual stuff. Still, enticement must go on and so, naked, she forgets the weaponry in the drawer and focuses on her own ammunition. But things don’t go as planned as her husband chooses that moment to announce he is in love with another woman. The wife’s response is metaphorical, but only just:
“It was like the gun had gone off.”
Trained Professionals
The central “event” of the novel is what is euphemistically referred to as an “officer-involved shooting.” Las Vegas cops kill a woman and, amazingly, she is not a criminal. The LVPD spokesman explains what went down. The upshot being that a metaphorical weapon is as good as a literal one:
“It appears that Ms. Ahmeti pulled an ice-cream scoop from her pocket and brandished it as if it were a knife.”
Desert Rain
The story takes place in Las Vegas, with all the casinos and hotels. Amid all that glitter it can be difficult to forget that this mecca for gamblers, grifters and Wayne Newton actually only exists because—not in spite of—it was in the desert, far away from various and assorted unwanted “meddling kids.” But a desert city it is and one learns quite a bit out Vegas in the novel:
“It doesn’t rain much in Nevada, but when it does, it comes down like someone dumped a bucket. When I was a kid, I could never quite imagine a raindrop. Rain in Las Vegas is a sheet, it’s a deluge, and then it stops.”
Stars Fell in Albania
In addition to learning about the desert in America, one learns about the sky over Albania. This seems to be based very much in fact as this is not the only novel out there that contains a scene describe the majesty of Albanian nights:
“Nene says that in Albania, there are so many stars, it feels like a sparkling blanket over your head, and she says that nobody ever gets tired of looking at them because they always find a star they never saw before.”
Deserts, Deserts Everywhere
Lots of deserts in the book. They don’t actually all have scenes set in them, but they are referenced and the references are significant. So is the linkage between them made possible by the comparison potential of the simile:
“It’s pretty amazing, because Iraq looks like southern Nevada, and Afghanistan looks like northern Nevada…Isn’t it weird that we are at war with two countries that look like Nevada?”
