Ivan Zhilin visits a seaside resort city to investigate a series of mysterious deaths. The culture of this city has become utterly decadent, the product of an age of universal affluence. Zhilin refers to the present state of the world as "the age of the boob" where the highest priority is placed on orgiastic pleasure and staving off boredom, to the neglect of culture, education and scientific progress.The ultimate expression of the decadence of Earth culture is the mysterious "Slug" which is apparently responsible for the deaths that Zhilin is investigating. "Slug" turns out to be a way of generating an artificial reality significantly more intense than normal reality, to the point where there is virtually no comparison between our reality and that of the "slug." People become addicted to it and spend increasing amounts of time unconscious in their bathtubs until it kills them by nervous exhaustion or brain hemorrhages. This is "the final circle of paradise."
- ISBN13 9781329887350
- Publish Date 7 February 2016 (first published May 1979)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 25 June 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Lulu.com
- Format eBook (OEB)
- Language English