A novel of masterly lightness: profound, humorous, exciting, heartfelt. In the tea country of Japan, light and shadow mix, the Freudian superego and the dark gods of Shint ism. And the old question is asked anew: Is life, in the end, a dream? Gilbert Silvester, private lecturer and beard researcher in the context of a university third-party funded project, is in shock. Last night he dreamt that his wife was cheating on him. In an absurd act of short-circuit, he leaves her, gets on the first plane he can find and travels to Japan to get some distance. There, the travel descriptions of the classical poet Bash fall into his hands, and suddenly he has a goal: like the ancient wandering monks, he too wants to see the moon over the Pine Islands. On the traditional pilgrimage route, he could lose himself in the contemplation of nature and find his inner A.