<DIV><DIV><P>Sergio Prim is a staid, middle-aged geographer. The romantic advances of Brezo Varela, a lively young woman who shares his profession, induce a series of terrifying hallucinations from which he attempts to seek refuge by immersing himself in the quest to map a place in which love never results in disillusionment. A lyrical examination of language, imagination, and desire.</P><P><B>Belén Gopegui</B> burst onto the Spanish literary scene in 1993, bowling over critics with her masterful debut <I>La escala de los mapas</I> (<I>The Scale of Maps</I>), which was hailed as a masterpiece. This is her first work translated into English.</P></DIV></DIV>