Early this century Enrico, a young intellectual, leaves the city of Gorizia with its abundant population and culture, to spend several years living on the Patagonian pampas, alone with his ancient Greek texts, his flocks and, every now and then, a woman.

Claudio Magris is the author of Danube, a work described as a masterpiece by a great number of critics, and which has been translated into most major languages. He previously taught German at the University of Turin. He has translated the works of Ibsen, Kleist and Schnitzler and currently lectures in the faculty of Literature and Philosophy at Trieste University.