This science fiction satire, first pubished in 1952, has been seriously compared to BRAVE NEW WORLD and 1984. In his entry on Wolfe in THE SCIENCE FICTION ENCYCLOPEDIA, David Pringle called "[t]his large and extravagent book...perhaps the finest sf novel of ideas published during the 1950s". J.G. Ballard simply considered it "the greatest American sf novel." Yet it has often been out of print, and appears to be so today (probably because it is set in "1990", though it's the fine writing that counts). It was published as Ace #A-3 (A-4 through A-6 were Ace's unauthorized edition of THE LORD OF THE RINGS.) 413 pages. Some wear on spine ends and along spine and on cover corners, modest wear along edges and there is some light to moderate cover creasing; foxing on coverback edges; some page edge wear, mostly near front; light to moderate corner moisture staining at front & back; name written on first page; moderate page toning. Still, the covers and spine are quite bright and the binding is tight. A semi-obscure classic which is must reading for anyone into sf satire.