"Dr. Apelles, Native American translator of Native American texts, lives a diligent existence. He works at a library and, in his free time, he works on his translations. One day he stumbles across an ancient manuscript only he can translate and realizes that he has made an unsettling discovery." "In this mystery of letters David Treuer tells two love stories. One takes us deep into the woods of mythology; the other along a labyrinthine archive with infinite corridors of unwanted books. In a novel that charts the progress of much loss against precious gains, Treuer asks to what lengths we will go to experience the "terrible pleasure" of love."--BOOK JACKET.