A comically desperate semi-Zen poet offers short bits of tawdry wisdom in three-line segments. A somewhat hostile semi-Confucian critic responds to each segment with a three-line quip about the author and-or his work. The central conceit of the work is that somehow a discredited poet (perhaps in Asia, perhaps in California, perhaps in the past, perhaps now) manages to get published again; but in a perverse twist, he is paired with one of his detractors, and the two are forced to work on the same project. The book starts out thoughtfully enough, and the chemistry between the two writers seems minimal; but as the project goes on, a sort of lively banter, or even a kind of brainstorming emerges. And so, as one of the real author's detractors might say, "The book is good clean fun, but not so clean really, and maybe not that fun."