A bold allegorical epic that hovers somewhere between the surreal and the incredible. Vollmann tells of the battle for power between the inventors and developer

That was the simple yet groundbreaking question William T. Vollmann asked in cities and villages around the globe. The result of Vollmann's fearless inquiry is

Here are 13 daring and innovative tales dealing with "skinheads, x-ray patients, whores, lovers, fetishists, and other lost souls" who populate landscapes as di