Gwyn wrote about Lucas, a musician and translator who is a bit lazy and overly involved in the night life. Also, "the roof people," who wander from one flat rooftop to another, sometimes squatting. And the fire-eaters, and many other interesting people — especially Nuria, an utterly intriguing young woman with whom Lucas has a passionate affair.

In the midst of their rapture, they are kidnapped by a band of 13th century Cathars (a medieval Christian sect that believed salvation came from living a spiritual life), who allegedly disappeared during the crusades but return with Pontneuf, an egomaniac who believes he is reincarnated. He also believes that Lucas and Nuria rightfully belong in the cult.

This part of the story is a bit over the top, but the rest is well-constructed and very well-written, even elegant in style.

Lucas, said Gwyn, "may be an unreliable narrator. I wanted a sense of ambiguity, of not knowing where you stand or what you can believe and why you should believe. We adopt a role anyway when we open a book of fiction. We pretend that these things are real. The person who writes it knows it's not true, so who's kidding who?"

Gwyn said, "The book was originally a lot bigger — giving it a very dense tone, so we worked it down by a third." A good editor advised him how to cut it down. "It was very good, because I tend not to listen to people's advice."

When asked if Lucas is really Gwyn, the author chuckled and said, "I should have a strategy for answering this question, shouldn't I? I'll just say, No, it's a work of fiction."

---

E-mail: dennis@desnews.com