Marek Hłasko, ”the Polish James Dean”, a writer and a reveler, comes to Israel in the late 1950s. This land and people become his inspiration, and at the same time a trap for him. He carefully observes immigrants who try to settle in a new place. He is also trying to catch a temporary income. The first protagonists of his novels appear, among them Dow ben Dow (Bear son of the Bear), the one for whom Hłasko uses the autobiographical form – ”I”. Dow/Hłasko falls in love with Ester, a prostitute, an unattainable woman who is also Sabra, a person born in Israel. Esther says what she thinks - she does not believe in him and his attachment to this country because there is no other form of love than paid love. When there is no alternative – a man becomes his own shadow, the society – a shadow of its legend.
