This is a story set in a future when America is a fallen power. Where it still contains all the relics of the current golden age but they are crumbling and no one has the money to restore them to their former beauty.

The lead character, Hassan Kerbelai, arrives in this America and this is the story of his time in this future America. A large portion of this story is told through Hassan's personal journal or letters he sends back home in which we get an insight into this man's reaction to the America he finds himself in and his interaction with the people he meets, most notably a theatre group including a woman he desires.

This is a very well written novella, its length allowing us to explore the world Gene Wolfe has created without the need to be over-burdened with the plot that would be necessitated by a longer form. This is a good example of what can be achieved at novella length, and exactly how different this can be in structure from the standard novel.