Kauffmann follows in the footsteps of the 18th century sailor Yves-Joseph Kerguelen, who gave his name to the archipelago he discovered in the Indian Ocean. When he made his discovery, Kerguelen was convinced he had found Hell. He did not go ashore and it was left to Captain Cook two years later to name its grey beach and to describe the towering black arch that astounded sailors for hundreds of years. While he was working in the Lebabnon as a journalist in 1985, Jean-Paul Kauffmann was kidnapped and not released until 1988. Although the subject is never mentioned, it lies just beneath the surface of his writing.