Cloud Sketcher

In a tiny village in Finland Esko Vaananen is at the brink of despair -- he loves a woman he can never have. Suddenly in the magical light of the aurora borealis he has a vision of an impossibly tall building rising gracefully from the frozen lake and disappearing into the clouds above him. This <em>pilvenpiirtaja</em> -- cloud sketcher or skyscraper -- sparks a lifelong quest for beauty in Esko. He will pursue and protect these two passions -- his vision and his love -- no matter how great the cost for the rest of his life. It is a journey that leads him into the Bolshevik revolution and the Jazz Age nightclubs of New York City and to strike a Faustian bargain with a ruthless gangster -- all in the pursuit of artistic perfection and impossible unattainable love.</p>