PHILIPPE CABASSAC, ACADEMIC and DREAMER, LIVES ALONE ON HIS VAST, DECAYING FAMILY ESTATE IN PROVENCE. ALTHOUGH HE APPEARS TO HAVE EXISTED MAINLY IN HIS HEAD, ONE LIFE-LONG RITUAL HAS KEPT HIM IN TOUCH WITH NATURE. SINCE CHILDHOOD HE HAS FLY-TRUFFLED, AND THE SEASONAL SEARCH FOR THESE DELICACIES HAS SHAPED HIS LIFE. BUT THEIR SHARP FLAVOUR COMES TO MEAN FAR MORE THAN A TREAT FOR HIS PALATE.
AFTER YEARS OF SOLITUDE HE MEETS A BEAUTIFUL STUDENT WHO IMMEDIATELY MOVES IN WITH HIM. CABASSAC, HAVING AT LAST FOUND HIS IDEAL LOVER, REFUSES TO SHARE HER, EVEN WITH A CHILD. HIS POSSESSIVE LOVE EXACTS A PRICE. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ELEGANT NOVELLA WITH ITS AURA OF A CRUEL FAIRYTALE IS CHILLING. ON LOSING HIS LOVE, CABASSAC SLIDES INTO AN APATHY WHICH DESTROYS HIS ACADEMIC CAREER, ALLOWS THE OLD ESTATE TO COLLAPSE AND FINALLY DRIFTS INTO A MADNESS CREATED By MEMORY AND THE INTENSITY OF HIS OBSESSIONAL DESIRE, ALL SUSTAINED BY TRUFFLES. AS UNSETTLING AS IT IS MOVING, SOBIN'S STRANGE ELEGY ABOUT THE ESSENTIAL SELFISHNESS OF LOVE, PERHAPS MORE METAPHOR THAN STORY, HOVERS THE SAFE SIDE OF RIDICULOUS AND PROVES DIFFICULT TO FORGET.