Waning and fading - as a non-fiction editor at Huber & Leon, Himlicek spent many hours poring over scientific manuscripts. Descended from a troupe of Czech trapeze artists, he dreamed of loftier pursuits. As an amateur philosopher he boils everything down to first principles: Why are there dots on his mother's dress? He sets out to seek the Caf de l'Univers, the ominous cradle of all things.
Dark and gentle, Himlicek has become adept in the art of leave-taking. He sets up a philosophical variety store of small things, contemplates a theory of loss, and finally catapults himself grandiosely into the universe with his grand piano - as a pianist who never learned to play. Irrevocably.