It tells the parody philosophical tale of Xman, a universal nobody[2] who arrives in Manhattan and drifts between arguments, interviews, accidents, hospitals, derelicts, terrorists, and death.

Ontological discussion[2] is the norm, especially in regard to symptoms, labels, captions, bracketing, impersonation, and the true work.

[3] Of Xman's background, we learn he was born an oversized orphan in Eunuque Falls, Iowa, a suburb of Old Balls,[4] raised in an orphanage outside of Cincinnati,[5] and ended up in the city C[6] or C—[7] some time before the novel begins.

Xman had minutes[8] of experience in podiatry school, after which he worked on a construction gang in the Berkeley hills.

[9] Xman, seeking to make himself unique, takes a cab to the airport, flies to New York City, then rides a bus to Grand Central Station.

Next day, dodging Fish, arrives at his assignment with Xaviero and Gottfried, who deny meeting Xman the night before.

Xman returns home, anxious over his unemployment, and is unable to control his temper with Rosalie.

[11] The story of Pman ends inconclusively, and Rose tells Xman to give up his search for 'the true work,' and to settle for "a symptom".

She ends by telling Xman there is a paid-for room waiting for him in a hotel near Times Square, and a check for his immediate needs.

After long conversation, Xman agrees to attend the offered terrorist cell meeting, led by Fatima.

Along the way, we learn the Lieutenant's is known as Siegfried, nickname Ziggy, real name Mahatma, commonly abbreviated S/M.

Speeches over, Xman goes wandering through Manhattan again, ends up to see Rosalie and he hopes his child.

She tells him "it's too late," and reads to their child the story of a very poor Caucasian woodcutter, Sven, his wife, Yekaterina Ivanovnanookna, and their seventeen strapping sons.

Eventually, Xman is assigned to work with Gunhildo né Grigorevitch, and they blow up a bridge next day, timed for a prominent slumlord's crossing.

It is not easy goingAs metaphors compound and sentences unwind around the questions of reality and response, Brodsky creates a novel of stunning impact.