While the parallel-universe narrative is familiar to science fiction readers, there is little else about The Female Man that can be called conventional. Not only do the unusual personalities of the several characters force the reader into unfamiliar modes of thought, but the frequent shifts of point of view and the sudden appearance of satirical lists or hypothetical dialogues between nameless character types tend to keep the reader off balance. Russ might not appreciate comparisons with earlier male satirists, but the portrayal of the Manlanders, for example, has both a Rabelaisian grotesquerie and a Swiftian bite. The games (such as "The Great Happiness Contest" or "Ain't It Awful") are like scenes from Restoration Comedy, as the names of the participants — Saccharissa, Wailissa, Lamentissa — suggest. Russ uses a remarkable range of comic and satiric techniques to break down conventional expectations and...