Life can be for some a process of progressive marginalization. Life at sea often draws those who prefer to live in those margins, seeking an existence at the very periphery of society, evading its standards even while nominally serving its aims. When Mandelbrot Feuerstool, a member of the U.S. Coastal Survey, finds himself unwillingly trapped in a cycle that draws beyond the pale by the apparent suicide of his captain, Archibald MacRae, he embraces this process. Crossing the line, his own aims become the equivalent of and indistinguishable from criminality, thenceforth finding his only...

Part I of this collection are stories written just after the author's (brief) stint at Cornell University -- (with the exception of 'Execution', which was written much later). 'They are presented in chronological order as best I can remember and are of such diverse styles as to seem to resist even the simple act of collating them into a book in any other logical manner. Suffice it to say this was a period of experimentation in many ways. The attentive reader will be easily able to comprehend the reasons that the styles are so diverse. Part II are more modern stories composed mostly as short...