A young writer Atanazy Bazakbal is getting married to sweet Zosia. However, he is enthralled by a demonic Hela Bertz, who on her part is marrying prince Prepudrech. Not to mention the decadent, cocaine-addicted, homosexual count Lohoyski, who too wants to have his share of Atanazy... and all this in the context of the fast spreading communist revolution, turning the usual values upside down, religion becoming atheism, individualism becoming communism, and art becoming utility. Witkiewicz describes the decaying world as he sees it, and given he [allegedly] committed suicide after the Russian revolutionaries entered the territory of Poland, he sure would know what he was writing about... With his brilliant use of language and artistic background, Witkiewicz's novel is one of the most interesting Polish books ever written.