"A dizzying novel of deception and metempsychosis by the author of the National Book Award finalist Far North Whatever this is, it started when Nicholas Slopen came back from the dead. In a locked ward of a notorious psychiatric hospital sits a man whoinsists that he is Dr. Nicholas Slopen, failed husband and impoverished Samuel Johnson scholar. Slopen has been dead for months. Yet nothing can make this man change his story. What begins as a tale...

"The head honcho. The last boss. The final encounter ... At long last, it's time for the finale between me and my greatest rival, earth dragon Araba. I trained like a mad spider. I planned for every outcome. And in the end, all that's left is-- the execution. When this showdown's over and done with, only one of us will remain ..."--Provided by publisher