A novel of Russia in the 1960s. It is of love, lust, revenge, art and friendship. Many characters speak in the voice of the main character, who has no name. We don't know where he is, but we know he has loves. The other characters are military or children or women or what seems to be the cast of Siegfried. There is much secrecy, betrayal, honesty, deceit, love, hate, killing, living, and grappa. The novel starts and ends near or in the Neva River that runs through St. Petersburg, Russia.