... somewhere, a dog barks

Story is presented chronologically, Pulp Fiction-style, beginning and ending with the kind of epic traffic jam Los Angeles has raised to an art form. Newly transferred to L.A., Tom calls to tell his wife Stacy he is stuck, and asks her to take his place joining their friend, Steve at a nearby AA meeting. Steve is one of the only people they know in this city, now a jaded former musician, trapped for years in a dead-end job as a waiter. Stacy puts down the pregnancy test she was about to take, and goes to the meeting; but Steve is a no-show. When Tom shows up, her potential pregnancy leads to a loud argument, Tom storms out, and Stacy is comforted by a stranger named Jack Favor. Vera is convinced she not only sees dead people, she regularly holds conversations with them. She is visited by her grandfather, Aunt, and an ex-boyfriend - all of whom have passed away. Her only living companion is her dog, until Tom and Stacy arrive. Bonnie is 23, beautiful, going stir-crazy in Flagstaff Arizona, when she meets Jack, who promises his friend Daryl, a big-time Hollywood Director, will put her in films. They climb in her car, grab some cash from her parent's house, and head out for Hollywood together. When their paths intersect, each changes the lives of the other in unexpected ways, leading to love, betrayal, drugs, theft, rape and death.