The title is an allusion to Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, stressing the uniqueness of Lem's original perceptions of the contemporary civilization, his aesthetics and philosophy.

[5] The third item is 30 Years Later, Swirski's translation of Lem's essay Trzydzieści lat później first published in Polish popular science magazine Wiedza i Życie [pl] ("Knowledge and Life") in 1991.

Apart from the critical remarks on futurology, its significant part is the discussion of the technology of virtual reality predicted in Summa Technologiae under the term fantomatyka ("fantomatics"), a part of his bitter philosophical dispute with Polish philosopher Leszek Kołakowski.

[5] Comparing the second and fourth chapters (interviews), Butko notes that the "first is less formal and more conversational", while the second one is "deeper" and more scholarly.

It also includes a comprehensive list of critical literature on Lem in English – alphabetically ordered by author.