"In the title story, four rabbis on a trip through the mountains offer marvellous and revealing interpretations of the similarities between snow and guilt, just before an avalanche, killing three of them, provides the most concrete interpretation of all for the survivor. In other stories, horrors await a scientist who provokes unrequited passion in a young girl; a wheelchair bound philosopher rails at cosmic injustice throughout the events of the twentieth century; and a man who saves a kitten from death unwittingly changes his life through a random act of kindness. These stories, ostensibly reported by the author's former classmates, conclude with a tale of love written by Giorgio Pressburger's brother and fellow writer, the late Nicola Pressburger."--Jacket.