This book is unique as no other novel can claim to be: one of109,027,350,432,000 possible variations of the same work offiction.

Inspired by the legend of Tristan and Isolde, Tristano wasfirst published in 1966 in Italian. But only recently has digitaltechnology made it possible to realise the authors originalvision. The novel comprises ten chapters, and the fifteen pairsof paragraphs in each of these are shuffled anew for each publishedcopy. No two versions are the same. The random variationsbetween copies enact the variegations of the humanheart, as exemplified by the lovers at the centre of the story.

The copies of the English translation of Tristano are individuallynumbered, starting from 10,000 (running sequentiallyfrom the Italian and German editions). Included is aforeword by Umberto Eco explaining how Balestrinis experimentwith the physical medium of the novel demonstrates

that originality and creativity are nothing more than thechance handling of a combination.