Fantasy and reality collide as the book s principal characters two lovers meet, part, and reunite, time and again, at different stages in life and in landscapes both familiar and exotic. Death appears as a genial waiter in a cafe across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; talking circus elephants console a ringmaster for his unrequited love; a young boy barters with pirates for his grandmother s soul; and as a refrigerator begins spilling mini-glaciers...