Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006), a writer called worthy of the Nobel Prize by the New York Times, was an internationally renowned author of novels, short stories, literary criticism, and philosophical essays. His books have been translated into forty-four languages and have sold more than thirty million copies.
Lem's thought-provoking, reissued 1961 classic explores the questionable utopia that has emerged on a vivid future Earth through the eyes of an astronaut recently returned from the Fomalhaut star system, 23 light years away. -Publishers Weekly The writing is leisurely and elaborate, with a lot of gorgeous descriptive set-pieces....Atypical work from a master, but carried off with characteristic panache. -Kirkus Reviews -