Brings together four novels: "Out", a science-fiction vision of a world surviving catastrophe; "Such", in which a three-minute heart massage is developed into a poetic and funny narrative; "Between", a glittering experience of the multiplicity of language; and "Thru", a novel in which text and typography assume a life of their own.

These four novels by Christine Brooke-Rose each develop distinctive narrative patterns, changing the structures, textures, forms, and idioms of fiction to explore the central tensions and contradictions in culture. The novels are distinguished by their high wit, restless inventiveness, and the sharp focus of a European humanist reflecting on that culture.