What if your perfect hermaphrodite match existed on another planet? What if you could suddenly see through people's skin to their organs? What if you knew the exact date of your death? What if your city was filled with doppelgangers--of you? Forced to navigate these bizarre scenarios, Phillips's characters search for solutions to the problem of how to survive in an irrational, infinitely strange world. By turns surreal, witty, and perplexing, the stories here explore the everyday indignities and surprising pleasures of living in a time and place that can feel futuristic, fantastical, and...

'Ingenious and unsettling' Observer 'This sleek ride of a novel further cements Phillips's position as one of our most profound writers of speculative fiction.' New York Times In a hot and gritty city populated by super-intelligent robots called 'Hums', May seeks some reprieve from recent hardships and from her family's addiction to their devices. She splurges on a weekend away at the Botanical Garden - a rare, green refuge in the heart of the city, where forests, streams and animals flourish. But when it becomes clear that the Garden is not the idyll she hoped it would be, and her...