The protagonist of the volume embarks on an epic journey: he wants to uncover his father’s mysterious disappearance twenty years earlier, and he also wants to find its stolen bike.
It falls into strangely intertwined stories: he meets Lin Vang, the oldest elephant that ever lived, reveals the history of World War II soldiers fighting in the primeval forests of Southeast Asia, and even gives a glimpse into the world of butterfly collages and old bicyclists.
Wu Ming-yi’s novel, illustrated by the author himself, is both a twisting and contemplative, a touching natural history of memory, loss, and family ties.