<p>a Successful, Middle-aged Novelist With A Case Of Bad Nerves, Gilbert Pinfold Embarks On A Recuperative Trip To Ceylon. Almost As Soon As The Gangplank Lifts, Pinfold Hears Sounds Coming Out Of The Ceiling Of His Cabin: Wild Jazz Bands, Barking Dogs, And Loud Revival Meetings.<p>he Is Convinced That An Erratic Public-address System Is Letting Him Hear Everything That Goes On Aboard Ship... Until Instead Of Just Sounds, He Hears Voices. Voices Talking, In The Most Frighteningly Intimate Way, About Him!<p>a Revelation Of Waugh's Inward Conflicts And Distresses Which No Biographer Can Hope To Equal In Poignancy And Truth. (publisher's Source)</p>