Book excerpt: A hapless Earthling must find his way home through a universe of absurdities in this science fiction romp from a Hugo and Nebula Award–nominated master. New York civil servant Thomas Carmody has never been particularly lucky. Imagine his surprise when he discovers he’s won the grand prize in an Intergalactic Lottery he had no idea he’d entered. Whisked far away to Galactic Central to claim his award, he has two immediate, equally troubling revelations. Not only does his Prize—a talkative device that changes shape—serve no practical purpose whatsoever, but now he’s expected to find his own way back to Earth. Of course, Carmody has no idea where, when, or even which universe he’s been stranded in. Ignoring the worthless advice and opinions of his increasingly annoying Prize, he embarks on a bizarre odyssey that takes him from alternate Earth to alternate Earth, bringing him into close contact with all manner of strangeness—and even with a bored God Almighty Himself. But Carmody’s sweepstakes “windfall” comes with yet another unexpected drawback. Suddenly, an unrelenting predator is on his tail, determined to eliminate the “glitch” wandering lost through numerous dimensions where he does not belong. A full decade before Douglas Adams devised TheHitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Robert Sheckley created his Dimension of Miracles, launching one luckless protagonist on a hilarious journey across an alien universe of intelligent dinosaurs and mothering sentient towns. Fans of Kurt Vonnegut, Roger Zelazny, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, and Harry Harrison’s Bill the Galactic Hero will delight in Sheckley’s biting and brilliant Alice in Wonderland–like outer space adventure.