Chapter 1 Summary

Abe Bronstein tries to talk Robert C. (Bobby) Luczak out of flying to Calcutta, India, but everything is arranged for a trip paid for by Harper's. Accompanied by his Indian-born wife Amrita and baby daughter Victoria, Bobby is to pick up new-found materials by the supposedly-dead poet M. Das and to try to interview him. Having served in Calcutta in 1947, Abe describes it as scary. He has witness a human sacrifice. Although he is spooked, Bobby is too stubborn not to take the trip.

Chapter 1 Analysis

Chapter 1 is set in the New York office of magazine publisher Abe Bronstein, as he tries to talk Robert C. ("Bobby") Luczak out of flying with his wife and baby to Calcutta, India, to pick up newly-surfaced materials by a supposedly-dead poet M. Das and to try to interview him. Bobby is something of an expert on...