An apocalyptic cult member carries out a gas attack on a rush-hour metro, but what connects him to a jazz buff in Tokyo? A woman on a holy mountain talks to a tree - and the tree talks back - unaware of the effect the financial irregularities of a burnt-out lawyer will have on her life. Add to this - a Mongolian gangster, a redundant English spy in Petersburg with a knack for forging masterpieces, a despondent 'zookeeper', a nuclear scientist, a ghostwriter, a ghost, and a late night New York DJ whose hard-boiled scepticism has been his undoing. All of them have tales to tell, and all must play their part as they are caught up in the inescapable forces of cause and effect.

大卫·米切尔是英国著名作家,欧美文学界公认的新一代小说大师。1969年生于英格兰伍斯特郡,在肯特大学主修英美文学、比较文学。曾在日本广岛担任工程系学生的英文教师八年。

米切尔博采村上春树、奥斯特、卡尔维诺、博尔赫斯诸大师作品之所长,自成一派,其作波诡云谲,灵气无穷。处女作《幽灵代笔》（1999）轰动欧美文学界,荣获莱斯文学奖,入围《卫报》处女作奖决选；《九号梦》（2001）入围布克奖决选,米切尔也因此书被评为英国最佳青年小说家；《云图》（2004）荣膺英国国家图书奖最佳小说奖和理查与茱蒂读书俱乐部年度选书,同时入围布克奖、星云奖、克拉克奖决选；《绿野黑天鹅》（2006）获得美国图书馆协会最佳青少年图书和《学校图书馆报》最佳图书称号,入围科斯塔图书奖和《洛杉矶时报》图书奖；《雅各布·德佐特的一千个秋天》（2010）问鼎英联邦作家奖。

米切尔小说原创性十足,为二十一世纪英语小说开启了全新的模式与风貌。2007年,以杰出的文学成就被美国《时代》杂志评为“世界100位最具影响力的人物”之一。