The narrative of these novellas concentrates on a magician named LeBlanc, another member of Kotzwinkle's gallery of artists-as-conjurers who are given to reflection on their art.

LeBlanc knows many of the secrets of traditional magic, but his skill goes beyond the mere arrangement of devices and contraptions to the more powerful modes of magic that deal with psychic transformation, hypnotic suggestion, and the revelations of the hidden meanings of the subconscious.

When his assistant, Loli, disappears after being placed in a magic box, LeBlanc and his friends and fellow cafe performers, the Hot Jazz Trio, seek out Jean Cocteau, the poet/mystic, to help in the search for her. Although Kotzwinkle does not precisely claim that his versions of the famous historical figures are accurate, the characterizations, like his European setting, provide associations which are useful in evoking the ethos of the world where the action takes place...