Woven into this romance is the equally gripping tale of Dominique's relationship with art and the cultural turmoils of our time. By portraying a character for whom love and idealism are lost, this novel hauntingly shows us the importance of pursuing both. ALos Angeles Times Best Book of 2002.

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 into a couple's East Village apartment, a voyage to Antarctica commences on an icy schooner waiting for them in Tompkins Square Park Love,...