A Hollywood millionaire with a terror of death, whose personal physician happens
to be working on a theory of longevity-these are the elements of Aldous Huxley'
s caustic and entertaining satire on man's desire to live indefinitely. With his
customary wit and intellectual sophistication, Huxley pursues his characters in
their quest for the eternal, finishing on a note of horror. "This is Mr. Huxley
's Hollywood novel, and you might expect it to be fantastic, extravagant, crazy
and preposterous. It is all that, and heaven and hell too....It is the kind of n
ovel that he is particularly the master of, where the most extraordinary and for
tuitous events are followed by contemplative little essays on the meaning of lif
e....The story is outrageously good." New York Times. "A highly sensational plot
that will keep astonishing you to practically the final sentence." The New York
er. "Mr. Huxley's elegant mockery, his cruel aptness of phrase, the revelations
and the ingenious surprises he springs on the reader are those of a master craft
sman; Mr. Huxley is at the top of his form." London Times Literary Supplement."
