Strange, strange, novel that seems to be most inspired by Harness' career as a Patent Attorney at the Cynamid Chemical company The story is about company politics and to my mind largely resembles the William Holden movie Executive Suite, in texture and in it's thematic concerns about creativity being in a losing struggle with finance and raw power in industry.

The novel is idiosyncratic and personal to the point of feeling like it's written solely for the author's consumption, with moments of wan wish fulfillment and romance. In that regard it feels like some of the odder, quieter novels of Phil Dick, like We Can Build You. In the same way as with PKD, if you are so inclined, you can start to get a sense that you reading something private from a very interesting individual. I like this novel very much, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't read Harness before.
***1/2 ( )