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 mothers dress? He sets out to seek the Café de lUnivers, 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.

Dieter Bachmann, writer, editor, storyteller; from 1988-1998 editor-in-chief of du - Zeitschrift der Kultur; lives in Zurich and Umbria