A collection of five short stories Pynchon wrote as a young man in the late 1950s and early 1960s, first gathered in book form in 1984. They include tales of ordinary people, a strange wartime episode and a story about a possible diplomatic secret. Pynchon adds a candid introduction looking back on his early work with humour and some embarrassment. The book shows the beginnings of his later themes and gives readers a way into his style.