Written in 1957, it was published posthumously in 1985. This novel does not belong to the science fiction genre.

The narrative begins in 1944, when Virginia and Roger meet in Washington and marry after Roger divorces his first wife and abandons his daughter. The couple moves to Los Angeles, where Roger works in a munitions factory. Although he earns a great deal of money, he always spends even more. Therefore, he opens a television store. They have an asthmatic son and enroll him in an expensive private school. There Roger meets the mother of another student and begins an intimate relationship with her. The novel concludes with the flight of the womanizing Roger.

The work includes numerous autobiographical elements.