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"This is one of the first novels that defined the idea of 'slipstream' fiction. It's a beautiful evocation of everyday life -- the uneasy truces and alliances with parents, the mysteries of sex and trust, the fear of the unknown -- crossed with science fictional concerns -- interspecies communication, future wars and 'information sickness'. The book's central character is Melissa, marine biologist. Her mother is dying of cancer; her best friend is abused by her musician boyfriend. Her husband may be going off to Antarctica to report on a potential war. And Peter, the dolphin with whom Melissa has been working in a communication experiment, has recently become her lover. Mooney weaves the twisting lines of these lives together, moving effortlessly from character to character, male to female, even giving the dolphin a chance to tell a central story in his species' mythology, creating a fictional portrait of our times that feels more real than any realist novel could." --Richard Kadrey (in Covert Culture Sourcebook , 1993).