Back Cover:
"Dizzying and enjoyable" -- Publishers Weekly
"Kaleidoscopically mesmerizing... Powerfully illuminating" -- Village Voice
From New York to Tokyo to99lib•net Copenhagen to the Radiant City of Le Corbusier, this sophisticated and surreal collection of short stories and brief visionary texts takes us on an 99lib.netexhilarating tour of the modern urban -- and psychological -- landscape. Alexandra, a designer of artificial ruins, creates a ruined wall with classical columns and a number of broken urns for a park in Arizona; a journalist for a magazine called Folks sets out to interview nine people who have been struck by lightning; and a r九九藏书etired messman steals fifty-three mothballed ships from the U.S. government.
"Enticing. . . flecked with charm, surprise, and challenge" -- Kirkus Reviews
Like a maste九-九-藏-书-网r magician, working with control and illusion, Barthelme breaks all rules. Manipulating language with irony, humor, and imagination, he captures the essence of our disorienting times.