A story spanning a few days in Reykjavík during the eruption of the Katla volcano and the end of the Great War. Main character, "moonstone", a slurring of his real name, is a teenage male prostitute obsessed by a local girl onto whom he has projected a film star. Interestingly written, fast read. The dreamlike parts a bit confusing.
The streets yawn, empty of people, except for glimpses here and there of the odd shadowy figure out and about. These are the old women, bundled up in black clothes, wearing shawl upon shawl to keep out the chll. They have given room to so many ailments in their day that the scourge now making a meal of their descendants can find no morsel worth having on their worn-out old bones.
He is a shadow that passes from man to man, and no one is complete until he has cast him.
