Mexico City, Paramaribo, Manaus, then over the Andes of Peru and Bolivia to Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil. All by bus, train, dugout canoe and cutting his way through the jungle with a machete. A year in which writer's block turns a novelist into an incomparable diarist. - Elle; Hopkins notices everything. Here is boredom, solitude and cheap drinks. A deep melancholy hovers over these pages. There is time for everything, and nothing is lost. - Madame Figaro; An intimate journal... and one of his best books. Everything is there - the subtlety of his vision, the bitter lucidity, his deep interest in other people and his own yearnings. Only a great writer could distill his encounters with these countries with such emotion Supreme elegance... A great talent. - L'Argus de la Presse