Rome, early seventies. Leo Gazzara, a young bohemian from Milan, has been living in the eternal city for a few years, in the Rome of dolce vita. He spends his time between temporary jobs, humble hotel rooms, dinners with his wealthy and educated friends, stacks of books, and rivers of alcohol.

On the night of his thirtieth birthday, he will meet Arianna, a voluptuous girl, captivating and sensitive. Unable to express her true feelings, Arianna invades Leo's life with her ephemeral presence, disrupting the melancholic routine of a man who only she can save from his existential crisis, from the boundless loneliness in which he has sunk in the bustling city.

A novel hymn to Rome. A forgotten gem of Italian literature. A cult novel first discovered by Natalia Ginzburg, and today, almost fifty years later, translated into more than 20 countries.