The translator's workshop resembles that of an alchemist, where one material is transformed into another. As a brief tour of this space, eight essays present the complex problems that a translator must solve to achieve the transformation of text from one language to another.

In an original approach, the introductory text is presented in the form of a narrative, exposing a deeper issue concerning the nature of the translational work. The other essays discuss the encounter with the "great" classical texts, talk about translation as work in the modern social environment, or attempt to describe the process of the translational act through specific examples.

Finally, the conclusion tries to show how the translator himself seeks to speak through the foreign text he translates. Avoiding strictly academic language, with a tone that is more narrative or confessional, this book is aimed not only at "specialists" but generally at the reading public, who are interested in learning how a translation is born.