“Samuel Gold is of above average height, above average girth and possessed of some enormous appetites. He has a passion for antiquarian books, which he buys and sells, an extraordinarily keen eye for the opposite sex, no eye for the clock, little or no appreciation of where involvement might lead and definitely none at all of the value of money. It is thus as natural for him to be beset with difficulties that would rapidly turn other men grey as it is to breathe the air around him. Unruffled, seemingly unconcerned, he calmly compounds his entanglements with new and more involved meshes, or departs to fresh fields and fresh embarrassments that fail, however, to embarrass him.”
That is how Jonathan, who keeps a diary, starts his description of the man he calls 'The Sorcerer'. He also writes: “Tales of his comings and goings, his past and present exploits, his plans, his current or future whereabouts are rife, highly varied, and often conflicting. Almost everyone seems to know something about him, but no one knows all. Or nearly all. And what they do know may or may not be true.”
The setting is Stockholm in 1975-76 with the story centred round the contrasting characters of Jonathan and Samuel, ‘The Sorcerer’. Jonathan, unmarried, teaches English and is someone that others easily take advantage of. A member of an Anglo-Nordic social club, he is press-ganged onto the committee, which appoints its own officers and much against his will, he is made chairman at its first meeting. He is also landed with the task of writing the fortnightly newsletter, which he finds onerous and becomes dependent on Samuel (not a committee member) for humorous contributions in verse.
Other characters include Mike Schmidt, a Vietnam war resister from the Mid-West of the United States. A journalist-school graduate with manic depressive tendencies, he expends enormous energy on all he does, whether at the international service of the radio station where he works part-time, or harassing the vegetables and fighting the slugs at the out-of-town property he shares with two Swedes, Per-Erik, a lawyer and tippler, and Jan.
Tabby and Dinah are teachers at the International School, Angela a computer programmer and Trudy, a New Zealand au pair with an important part to play.
