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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
A lot
Violence including gang conflict and assault
Language
A lot
Heavy explicit language throughout
Sexual Content
Very heavy
Very graphic explicit sexual content, including gay male sex; pervasive throughout
Substance Use
Some
Drug use throughout
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Identity dissolution, the nature of reality, and the psychology of artistic creation
What this book is about
Kid arrives in Bellona, a Midwestern city cut off from the rest of America after an unspecified catastrophe. He becomes a poet, lover, and gang leader in a city where time doesn't work right. Delany's massive, experimental novel is deliberately difficult — nonlinear, sexually explicit, and structurally fragmented — and remains one of the most controversial works in science fiction.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Graphic explicit sexual content (gay and straight)
Violence
Drug use
Experimental/difficult structure (800+ pages)
Reader Verification
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