probably a bit overstuffed but i firmly believe this is one of his most beautifully written on top of being his most stylistically ambitious, especially for this new era. he seems so hesitant about going full meta but ends up there anyway with Howitzer consistently toying with what should and shouldn't find itself in the final publication. almost reads like a fantasy to leave it all out there and die before seeing the consequences. this all makes it more compelling than him going head-first into the meta-modernism of Asteroid City, personally. that final "what happens next?" goes crazy knowing the direction he goes in after this. i've always wondered what that travel-guide section was really doing in here, but that "All grand beauties withhold their deepest secrets" line really reads like the crux of this whole thing. not mid, just a mid-life crisis