One of Henry Miller's literary friends, Ephraim Doner, affectionately addressed as Maître Ephraim, is a fine painter, chess player, and a man with both feet on the ground. Oddly, he follows a UFO for miles from his home, but his wife, Rosa, and daughter, Tasha, are with him and corroborate the story. Both Doners are indulgent of children. Rosa instructs mothers and teachers in how to handle children. Tasha has been a bit spoiled since falling out of a second-story window as a small child. Tasha is not a monster because of her parents' belief in the victory of love. They garden her like a plant, and the love flows back freely to them. Tasha is a marvelous, fast-working crayon artist, to Miller's mind better than Picasso or Paul Klee. Her work inspires him to paint something Cézanne-like, but he always fails.