Approaching his fiftieth birthday, the narrator is wandering in an unfamiliar Brazilian city, in search of a park. A walker by inclination and habit, he decides to explore the city after attending a literary conference-he was invited to following the publication of his most recent novel, although, as he is informed via anonymous e-mail, has not been receiving good reviews. Initially thwarted by his inability to transpose the 2D information of the map onto the impassable roads and dead-ends of the city, once in the park he begins to see his own thoughts mirrored.