Prologue Summary

This thematically and narratively complex book tells the life story of Walter Starbuck, ex-socialist, ex-capitalist, and ex-con. Moving fluidly back and forth between past and present, incident and insight, irony and irony, the novel explores themes relating to the tension between capitalism and communism, layers of meaning inherent in layers of identity, and the interconnectedness of all things.

In the first few lines of the prologue, the author comments that "Kilgore Trout is back again" and explains why (see "Quotes," p. ix). In the next few lines , the author comments that he received a letter from a fan of his books that contained a line that summarized "the single idea that lies at the core of [his] life's work so far." That idea is "Love may fail, but courtesy will prevail." The author then comments that had he received that letter several years...