John Richard Norman grows up on the most beautiful street in Oslo: at one end is a chocolate factory, and at the other is the canvas factory "Christiana," which outfitted the ship of the Norwegian polar expedition, the Fram, with sails. In this tension between sweets and exploration, John Richard matures into the epitome of a qualified, passionate reader. Even more so: for him, the words read and live are synonymous. Contrary to his mother's warning that it is not good to immerse oneself too deeply in books and fiction, he devours books like others do chocolate. Ultimately, he becomes an outstanding editorial supervisor at a prestigious publishing house, whose authors are almost always successful, thanks to a gift: he always knows when a book is chocolate and when it is not.