His life was like his recurring nightmare: a train to nowhere. But an ordinary life has a way of taking an extraordinary turn. Add a girl whose ears are so exquisite that, when uncovered, they improve sex a thousand-fold, a runaway friend, a right-wing politico, an ovine-obsessed professor and manicdepressive in a sheep outfit, impicate them in a hunt for a sheep, that may or may not running the world, and the upshot is another singular masterpiece from Japan´s finest novelist.