Here is one of the brightest, most engaging

novels yet by a master of science fiction, an

author recognized here and abroad for his dis-

tinctive comic flair and boundless imagina-

tion. It tells of Alistair Crompton, a vintage

Sheckley hero on the most quixotic search of

all--in quest of his personality.

As Chief Tester for Psyehosmell, inc., a

world monopoly controlling the production

and sale of exotic psychedelic fragrances,

Crompton would seem to be in an enviable

position within a society that has become de-

pendent upon olfactory stimulation. He is,

however, a tortured soul--in effect one-third

of himself, having been separated at an early

age from two other conflicting personalities

inside his mind. Installed in different host

bodies and dispatched to two distant planets,

these other Alistairs have developed separate

lives. Now in middle age, the original Alistair

has located them and has hatched an improba-

ble scheme to reintegrate himself. He risks the

notorious wrath of his employer to defraud

Psycbosmell of the fnnds needed to send him

on a quest to those two worlds where live the

other disparate parts of his psyche--Loomis, as

grossly self-indulgent and amoral as Alistair is

abstentious and prim; and Stack, as vicious and

impulsive as Alistair is meek and cautious. The