A strange, sly, postmodern novel that's very 1980s in the best way — clever, off-kilter, a bit cosmically deadpan.

The story is dressed up as a manual for aliens, strangers, misfits, observers, and anyone else trying to decode Earth without losing their mind. Kramer takes the “visitor from elsewhere” premise and turns it into something more literary and sideways: part speculative fiction, part social satire, part guidebook to human absurdity. 

Good for readers into experimental fiction, feminist/postmodern sci-fi, literary oddities, alienation-as-form, and books that behave like instruction manuals written by someone who has seen humanity and quietly requested a refund.

Paperback. First published in the US by Alfred A. Knopf in 1984, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada; this Faber edition first published in 1986. Used copy with cover wear/creasing and general age toning, but readable and intact.