...BECAUSE SHAKESPEARE GOT THE ENDING WRONG THE FIRST TIME. Stripped of his fortune, his daughter, his religion, and even his name, Shylock of Venice (now baptized "Christoforo," under duress) broods over his injuries alone. A mysterious traveler, dressed in black, offers him the chance to avenge himself upon those who have wronged him, and to seize back all that they have taken. When Shylock agrees, they embark on a journey that takes them across Renaissance Italy and through the history of post-Humanist philosophy - and what they find is not what either of them expects.