A remarkable find—the figure of Varya’s father, the eternal paralinguist with many names, who turns into either a professor and an Indian godling, or into a cranberry-preparer and a quiet gardener, or into the leader of a revolt, or the last soldier of an empire. He is present at Allende’s death in order to create a legend, dies many times, becomes foreman of the Trophim catchers, immediately catches in Bolivia the partisan commander Angel Lenin, gets a fat wife at a remote station, protects the White House, gives all the money to one of the families—and flies to America to see what happens.