United in their considerable desire for drink and cards, Jake, an overweight, slow-witted yet gentle man, and dark, brooding Michel have become fixtures at The Unicorn, a local Belgian watering hole. Suddenly aware that their wants have outgrown the narrow confines of their village, and of the Old World, these sympathetic rogues impulsively set out for the land of silk and money: Las Vegas, Nevada. While Jake and Michel pursue their exploits of satiation under the neon Day-Glo of 1970s America, their relatives and friends contend with sinister business of their own. Two forms of desire go afoul of each other, revealing the dark menace lurking behind the facade of glitter and glamour in the New World, and of friendship and innocence in the Old World. Melding humor with rich characterization and language, Hugo Claus conveys the precariousness of our beliefs and the grotesque and meaningful forms that human desire can assume in this frightening, ribald, and gripping novel.