A struggling American writer and a fellow American expatriate begin a sordid affair among the chaos and discord of 1940 Paris, France on the brink of World War II.
Dr. Ivan has found two radical cures for unhappiness: the diagnosis of fake terminal cancers and the temporary elimination of some of the 5 senses. But will the therapies result or will they have unforeseeable side effects?
Brothers Martin and Simon, not yet teens, are incorrigible vandals; Martin runs away from reform school, Simon from foster homes, and they always find each other in a seacoast town of Lignan, where their destructive behavior is infamous. (It may date to their mother's leaving the family.) Martin is philosophical, romantic, and poetic: he dreams of being the son of a shark; he holds tight to a book about goldfish his mother gave him. In both halting and wild ways, he tries to court Marie, a neighbor girl. Simon, with a pocketknife and an intractable will, seems more dangerous to others. What, on earth, is there for these children-becoming-men?
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