Harris's dissection of what constitutes the self is very interesting here, pitted against a story of adventure and intrigue on the sea and its port counterpart. Philosophy, existential crises of individuality and subjectivity, and the gritty cinematic noir-meets-Conrad atmosphere in this book are wonderfully executed. It's a shame that Harris is virtually unknown: this is a title a publisher like NYRB should bring back into print to shed more light on Harris's work.