Lost, found and outward bound, crossing lines and rendering borders non-existent, both spiritual and physical alike, these Collected episodes from a journey of unbridled freedom across the South American continent serve to inspire and invigorate everyone that yearns for the road. The author has woven a tale that carries you along with soulful vivacity, a carnival of characters and situations all enriched by the synchronicity that pervades all such ventures, when you live deliberately and open yourself up to all. An account of friendships born of shared experience or, moments of insight and revelation all to the backdrop of Earth's great continent of fecundity, beauty and mystery. A quest into profundity in myriad forms, a test of the self, Corti's novel takes life to the limits and shows us that staying faithful to the credo of accepting that anything is possible and permitted has both its rewards and its pitfalls. He effortlessly illustrates through his tale that even floating downstream requires strong swimming when shooting the rapids. We bear witness to the full gamut of life in South America both in cities and out in the wild. A search for the new, the ancient and the unseen on paths and ways untrodden or half-forgotten, a search for magic indeed. -Lloyd Harrison- A one-year journey through South America. The authentic adventurer knows that there's no destination but the road, that the real borders to cross are in our mind; the counterpart of freedom is being always able to leave, also when the love for a woman tells you to settle down. He doesn't want to give sociological or political explanations, though his eyes are able to catch the complexed, contradictory reality of the South American countries. His outlook is enthusiastic but objective, clear, realistic; even if he never renounces the romantic taste of things and situations. You'll find picaresque in some episodes, like in any literary journey worthy of respect; we'll be walking happy go lucky with the protagonist, swimming with him, bravely facing the strength of the ocean, crossing forests and deserts, touching the heart of nature: a charming sequence of vivid images of landscapes and people, as clear as photographs, or mesmerising visions feeding our imagination. Searching for the magic in life. That is what the author is telling us: be fully aware of life at any time, anywhere you are. -Monica Galanti-