In the introduction to this reissued classic, Jonathan Lethem says that this is a book that you “. . . need and want urgently though you don’t necessarily know it.” Upon completion of this wonderful, fable-like work, I couldn’t agree more. Set in the future, it is the tale of a society whose ultimate goal of Self-Fulfillment is found not through book-learning, but through drugs and enforced rules of strict privacy. It is a world where reading is a crime and where unquestioning obedience is the norm (“Relax, Don’t Ask” is society’s motto). The author, by giving us two characters who learn to read and rediscover the joy of books, shows us the true pleasures in life and the importance of not forgetting our pasts. A great read!