The Investigation.

New York, NY Avon Books, 1976. Paperback First Avon Edition (1976), so stated. First Avon Edition (1976), so stated. Very Good in Wraps: shows just a hint of wear to extremities; dampstaining to the upper corner of the outside edges of the text block and this has penetrated ever so faintly to the upper corner of the the text pages, mainly in the middle of the book and the pages have a slight 'crinkly' quality due to this; the expected tanning to the text pages due to aging; a single pages is creased at the upper corner; the binding is square and secure; the text is clean. Free of creases to the panels. Free of creases to the backstrip. Free of underlining, hi-lighting, notations, or marginalia. Free of any ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, plates, or labels. A handsome - if flawed - copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing very mild wear and couple of cosmetic flaws - one of them serious. Not so very far, in overall apprearance 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 12mo. (7 x 4.25 x 0.65 inches). 189 pages. Translated from the Polish by Adele Milch. The novel was originally published in Polish in 1959. Language: English. Weight: 5.1 ounces. All edges tinted red. Mass Market Paperback. Stanislaw Lem (1921 – 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical and humorous character. Lem's books have been translated into more than 50 languages and have sold more than 45 million copies. Lem is perhaps best known as the author of the 1961 novel Solaris. His science fiction works explore philosophical themes through speculations on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of communication with and understanding of alien intelligence, despair about human limitations, and humanity's place in the universe. One of Lem's major recurring themes was the impossibility of communication between profoundly alien beings, which may have no common ground with human intelligence, and humans. In 'The Invesigation', Lem brilliantly explores the disappearance of corpses from mortuaries all over London. Lem uses information theory and statistics as tools to solve the mystery, subjects about which he is clearly well-versed. The story unfolds in a forbidding, Kafkaesque industrial atmosphere.