In a litery field distinguished by the diversity and outrageousness of its authors, Philip Jose Farmer stands out as one of the most original figures. Time magazine says "Farmer offers his audience a wide screen adventure that never fails to provoke, amuse and educate." Critic Leslie Fiedler has pronounced him "the greatest science fiction writer ever," and the Los Angeles Times has called his epic Riverworld series "a feast for the imagination." Whether it is in the inventiveness of his science fiction or the charades of his literary revisionism, Philip Jose Farmer's work has always been characterized by humor, psychological playfulness and sexuality. Winnter of the highest accolades in science fiction, three-time Hugo Award winner Farmer has taken his place alongside Tolkien, Asimov and Le Guin, with his unconventional and ambitous Riverworld series. In this Masterworks edition, he reveals the story of his rise in the science fiction field and presents, with new introductions, a sextet of his best stories, including the Nebula Award nominee Sketches Among The Ruins of My Mind, The Sliced-Crosswise Only-on-Tuesday World, and, for the first time, a newly revised novel, the Adventures of the Three Madmen. The ontext for these selections is as unpredictable as their author, a World's Fair of the 21st century, dedicated to the work of Philip Jose Farmer and described by the author himself.