Shortly after the fall of the communist regime, in a remote rural region of Hungary, battered by wind and incessant rain, a few members of a failed agricultural cooperative live a dull life in a now almost ghostly village, helplessly waiting for a miracle to restore their future. Until one day, they receive news that the cunning and charismatic Irimiás, who had disappeared years before and was presumed dead, has been sighted on the road leading to the village. His simple reappearance inspires hope in the small community of neighbors, but also triggers disconcerting events and reveals aspects they might have preferred to ignore. Parodic and biting, this magnificent novel about the vicissitudes of hope and the value of promises inspired Béla Tarr's cult film and is now a contemporary classic.