Summary

In Chapter I, “The Palace,” the narrator went to the Palace to find Juan. Juan “kept a room there” and wanted the narrator to take it over “after his death” (7). The narrator promised to stay with him as he died.

With “no work, no degree and no pedigree,” and “no man to support [him],” the narrator abandoned the city for the Palace (9). Throughout the trip, he studied the landscape through the bus window. When he arrived at the reaches of the desert, he found Juan at the Palace.

The narrator and Juan met when they were both institutionalized years prior. The narrator “was just seventeen” (11). Because Juan was older, the narrator did not anticipate their coming closeness.

The narrator guessed a charity ran the Palace “for those without family” (12). Over the next few days, the narrator settled in with Juan. They caught up...