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Told almost entirely through talk, this short novel follows two speakers whose exchanges are hard to pin down. Their conclusions never quite land, their questions go unanswered, and their stated positions drift as they go. They often end up agreeing to disagree, and they come across as both sharp and foolish at once.

The dialogue wanders from one idea to the next. In one stretch, the pair wonder whether flying dogs exist, admit that seeing some would lift their spirits, and then riff on phrases like raining cats and dogs and the military term dogfight. Light and playful on the surface, the back-and-forth is also puzzling and deliberately elusive.

Padgett Powell published the book with Serpent's Tail. It will appeal to readers who enjoyed his earlier novel The Interrogative Mood, which is also built on unconventional, question-driven conversation.