Out is a novel of immense energy. Sukenick's characters flash into and out of presence; episodes impel themselves so strongly that they are self-obliterating. This is an experiment in narrative and language; at the same time it is an extremely accurate, persistently funny portrayal of the psychic overload we all reached at the end of the sixties. Sukenick engages the full range of contemporary fantasy—revolution, conspiracy, pastoral nostalgia, Indian wisdom, demonic secret societies, and sexual extravaganza. These do not merely occur in the narrative but occupy it. Singlyand in various rapid combinations, they add their manic energies to the book's acceleration.