The Roman philosopher and naturalist Pomponius Flatus is busy searching for a mythical river whose waters have miraculous properties. But fate brings him to Nazareth, where the execution of a local carpenter is about to take place - he is accused of murdering a wealthy townsman. The carpenter's little son does not believe in his father's guilt and hires Pomponius Flatus to find the real murderer. They act ineptly, guided more by good intentions than by common sense, and therefore more than once find themselves not only in comical, but also in deadly situations. However, perseverance and faith in justice, as well as the favor of the capricious Fortune, lead them to unravel amazing mysteries.

Novelist and playwright Eduardo Mendoza is deservedly considered one of the largest Spanish writers of our time. His debut novel, The Truth About the Savolta Affair, became a landmark work of the post-Franco era in Spain. The novel City of Wonders became an international bestseller and was successfully filmed by director Mario Camus. In Mendoza's later work, his extraordinary talent for parody and satire, brilliantly embodied in “The Life-Vivifying Journey of Pomponius Flata,” becomes more and more evident.