Leopardi (o poeta italiano Giacomo Leopardi) é uma criança-prodígio, a crescer sob o olhar implacavelmente vigilante do seu pai, numa biblioteca a que chama casa. A sua mente corre livre mas a vida familiar aprisiona-o: é um leitor ávido mas o mundo está longe. Na Europa, está tudo a mudar, revoluções emergem e Giacomo procura desesperadamente o contacto com o exterior. Aos 24 anos, deixa finalmente Recanati e a alta sociedade abre-lhe as portas, mas o nosso rebelde não se adapta.
Computer operator Faber works on securing computers for big companies and banks. His private life is rather dull until he meets a strange women, Juliet and falls in love. Her friend convinces Faber to exploit his knowledge to rob a bank.
While on an automobile tour of Italy with his mother, the German publisher in this story has an accident which results in her death. He decides to stay and look for work in Italy, rather than return to his responsibilities, and takes a job working on a construction site. His co-workers are similarly displaced men: one is a Greek exile, the other a Basque terrorist. The elaborate house they are working on is to be the home of a wealthy local man.
