Imagine that there are American MIAs who chose to remain missing after the Vietnam War. On one level, this is a book about identity, masquerade and disguise--about "the false mustache of the world"--but neither the mists of Laos nor the smog of Bangkok, neither the overcast of Seattle nor the fog of San Francisco, neither the murk of the intelligence community nor the mummery of the circus can obscure the linguistic phosphor that illuminates the pages of Villa Incognito. To say much more about a novel as fresh and surprising as Villa Incognito would run the risk of diluting the sheer fun of reading it.

From the Hardcover edition.