Nothomb plunges us into the universe of magic through two figures: Norman Terence, a famous magician, and Joe Whip, a boy who turns up at his door looking for a mentor and finds an adoptive father. And, as dictated by the oedipal order of the title, a relationship will be established between father and son that vacillates between fascination and rivalry, heightened by the presence of the seductive Christina, the juggler. Is literature not also a form of magic, and the writer a generous conjurer who keeps the real suspended while the story is told? But magicians always hide more than just another trick up their sleeve, and the story of Joe and Norman will reveal to the reader an unexpected and surprising ending.