This novel, a sort of a guide combining the thrill of fiction and the seriousness of philosophy, makes it possible to rethink in an ironic way some modern aesthetic views as well as to reveal a profound, eternal mechanism of creative work. It touches on many issues tragically unresolved until now: the absurdity of existence, the freedom of the individual, the manipulation of consciousness, the encounter of western rationalism and eastern mysticism. The book also includes some essays by René Daumal.