The Narrator

Although he is a focal point of the novel, readers never learn this character’s name. It is established that he is a middle-aged American school teacher who lives and works at the American College in Sofia, Bulgaria. He learned he was gay when he was a young child. He spent time with a friend named K., a boy who shared many of his same interests. Just before befriending K., he got an erection while watching his father's nude body in the shower. His father shunned him for his homosexuality, leaving him with the feeling of abandonment.

The narrator meets Mitko in the bathroom at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. He pays to give Mitko a blowjob, but he is also drawn to Mitko in a way that makes him want to continue seeing him. He pays for frequent encounters with Mitko, inviting him to...