Have you ever contemplated the English preoccupation with tea drinking, universal obsession with sex and oft-noted general lack of sincerity? Now do you react to chairs, fish, animals and trees that talk? Who would endeavour to recapture their youth by travelling down the Thames on the back of a hippopotamus? All these surreal ideas are interwoven in this unusual enlightenment of the deeply felt personal and psychological experiences of a "gay" foreigner, who spends his adult life in England whilst - despite its adverse political climate - his native and much-loved Portugal repeatedly draws him back. The author succeeds in arousing laughter and tears, sympathy and understanding for his personal struggles portrayed in the main theme of his autobiographical story. Within this main theme we see the man - his love and appreciation for those in close relationships with him, as well as his intuitive knowledge of the needs of, and loyalty given by his dog. A heart-rending account of a man with intense feeling and sensitivity whose writing, above all else, stimulates serious reflection.