Contains genuine and fictional characters.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [679]-681) and index.

The land of lost things -- The rainbow on the roof -- A dark form half hidden in the snow -- A world elsewhere -- Chimes at midnight -- Air and water -- The indifferent figure in the sand: a review -- Long blue shadows -- Inside story -- Love is on the air -- On the beach with Ronnie and Jane -- A lonely impulse of delight -- The end of the beginning -- Celluloid commandos -- the regeneration of the world -- Star power: a dialogue -- Down the divide: Four short scenarios -- Red or palest pink: a letter -- This dismal wilderness -- INTERMISSION -- And then along came Nancy -- The unexpected mystery of ploughed ground -- Remember old Ma Reagan: A studio interview, 1954 -- Ladies and gentlemen of the California Fertilizer Association: a speech -- Dark days -- Reagan Country -- A sixty-year-old smiling public man -- The ripple effect -- I, Ronald Wilson Reagan -- Back into the iron vest -- Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance -- Physicians of memory -- Almost Air Force One -- One on one -- Explosions -- The beginning of the end -- Album leaves, 1987-1988 -- The shining city.