Majnun lives his life online in his grandparents' well-appointed home in the Brazilian capital. No school, no work--just bored in Brasilia. After falling in love with a married woman, however, he flees to Madrid with friends, intent on, well . . . something. Writing a historical novel about medieval Spain? Or perhaps converting to Islam and heading to North Africa? As Majnun floats through the crowds of Catholics, through encounters with legitimate medievalists, through romances, friendships, mosques, and palaces, his vague interests threaten to boil over into violent, even deadly action.

João Almino is the author of six novels, of which The Five Seasons of Love, The Book of Emotions, and Free City are available in English translation, the latter two from Dalkey Archive Press. He has taught at UC Berkeley, Stanford, The University of Chicago, the Autonomous National University of Mexico, and the University of Brasília.