Leo Di Leo's one goal in life is to become a published writer. Searching for inspiration, he travels to Sarajevo only three months after the end of the war (1996). Here he finds a diary (Ivan's) that will ultimately provide the source material and the title for his book, but which, in the meantime, causes him nothing but trouble. Leo is arrested, tried and acquitted, an experience that leaves him with the strange conviction that he can play with the law and the prospect of prison. In fact, seven years later he takes advantage of the suicide of his publisher, who had rejected Leo's book, in order to draw attention to himself by claiming to have murdered the man. He has planned every detail, and, should anything go wrong, he has a letter from the publisher demonstrating his innocence. But he doubts that will necessary, given that, with the right layer, he should be released from jail after just a short stay, having become a best selling author in the meantime.And everything works out as he thought it would, except for the time spent in jail, which proves to be more than he can stand, on account of the violence of the other inmates...