...BY BRIAN ALDISS. A recording of a picaresque tale. An accident, a side effect of superluminal travel, strands an Earthman in a backwater part of the Galaxy, a region where multiple alien races of different origins contend in a solar system of orbits around multiple variable stars, on a planet where the known Earthly laws of physics are often altered or negated by other forces. The traveler is frequently unwelcome among the otherworldly beings, even as he seeks a way off the unpleasant world, enduring abuse, surviving (barely) by his wits and compelled to trek across the unusual landscape to reach a distant city where a spaceship will depart which could take him to more human-friendly interstellar realms. However, author Aldiss explicitly positions the story as a tall tale, the details of which have been exaggerated and modified since the historical events occurred. Aldiss’s common themes—- filth, decay, transmutation and alienage-— produce a sensuous literary experience. The observant and resilient human hero cannot help but notice the stench of the world, the piles of garbage, the slimy food he has to eat and the bizarre inversions of interpersonal expectations. His fastidious nature is frequently baffled and challenged. Joining a human woman destined as the consort to a pig-like local potentate, the Ungulph of Quilch, he proceeds relentlessly toward his objective. In a dramatic reading, Dr. H. Owll does his best to bring this vision to life, ideally to submerge the listener in the intricacies of the tale. A re-run, of course.