A vivid and inspiring adventure story from the father of magical realism
Dissatisfied with his empty, Sisyphus-like existence in New York City, where he has abandoned his creative dreams for a job in corporate advertising, an aspiring composer wants nothing more than to tear his life up from the root. He soon finds his escape hatch: a university-sponsored mission to South America to look for indigenous musical instruments in one of the few areas of the world safely untouched by the industrial world. Retracing the steps of time, he voyages with his lover into a land that feels outside of history, searching not just for music but ultimately for himself, and turning away from modernity towards the very heart of what makes us human.
'An erudite yet absorbing adventure story ... a book full of riches - stylistic, sensory, visual' ― The New York Times Book Review
'The greatest novel to have appeared in Latin America in our time' ― Le Figaro Littéraire
