The book was originally published by John Calder in association with Olympia Press.

The book combines sections from Burroughs' earlier novels, Naked Lunch, The Soft Machine and The Ticket That Exploded, in an attempt to create a new narrative.

Although the publisher claimed that it contained previously unpublished material, this was not identified until the Restored edition of 2020, edited by Burroughs scholar Oliver Harris, who argued that the text's novelty in any case depended on recognising it as an early experimental remix or mash-up.

It was the subject of a scathing review in the Times Literary Supplement that resulted in a war of words between supporters and detractors of the novel (and Burroughs' in general) that played out in the magazine's letters page for months.

Never published or translated outside the UK, the book itself is considered one of the rarer of Burroughs' novels, and was out of print for almost 50 years before the Restored edition 2020.