This is a collection of humorous essays, and it’s mostly very funny. Sometimes it’s witty, but more often on the goofy side. Most of the essays start out like the things we read every day, and then take odd, outlandish or surreal turns. Among the pieces of writing are a commencement address, a confession of murder, a small play in which Allen imagines himself living the final moments of Socrates, a fragment from a French detective novel, and more. Here’s an excerpt from a restaurant review:

“His fettuccine, though wry and puckish in an almost mischievous way, owes a lot to Barzino, whose use of fettuccine as an instrument of social change is known to us all.”

And this is from an essay on UFOs:

“Professor Leon Speciman postulates a civilization in outer space that is more advanced than ours by approximately fifteen minutes. This, he feels, gives them a great advantage over us, since they needn’t rush to get to appointments.”