Welcome to Inner Horner, a nation so small it can only accommodate one citizen at a time. The other six citizens must wait their turns in the Short-Term Residency Zone of the surrounding country of Outer Horner. It's a long-standing arrangement between the fantastical, not-exactly-human citizens of the two countries. But when Inner Horner suddenly shrinks, forcing three-quarters of the citizen then in residence over the border into Outer Horner territory, the Outer Hornerites declare an Invasion in Progress - having fallen under the spell of the power-hungry and demagogic Phil.<BR>So begins The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil. Fueled by George Saunder's unrivaled wit, outlandish imagination, and inclusive political sensibility, here is a deeply strange yet strangely familiar fable of power and impotence, justice and injustice - an Animal Farm for our times.