America, fifteen years after the end of the Second World War. The winning Axis powers have divided their spoils: the Nazis control New York, while California is ruled by the Japanese. But between these two states - locked in a cold war - lies a neutal buffer zone in which legendary author Hawthorne Abendsen is rumoured to live.
In Dick's alternative history the Nazis have won WWII, and taken over New York. The Japanese control California. In a neutral buffer zone an underground author offers his own vision of reality that offers hope to the disenchanted.
