This was a very difficult book to get into. There are two strands that run in parallel, one contemporary, and the other in a dystopian far future, and Self intersperses them. But it's not that simple either, as each strand isn't written in chronological order. The far future is also frequently written in dialect which makes Freespeling seem quite modest. In fact I was about half-way through the book before it really picked up. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the high point. There are some interesting ideas and unremarkable allegories, but neither strand really comes to a satisfactory conclusion.
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