The five poems that make up the text are based upon Japanese ghost stories told by Lafcadio Hearn in his book, "Kwaiden." The book has an unusual construction in that the sleeve pages are to be opened from their sides to reveal continuation of the poem printed on the recto sides of the pages. In the introduction, Young writes, "...I make use of the three-dimensional pages: pages with insides and outsides... I hope that each reader will bring his or her own senses of inside and outside to the reading of this book. I should, however, point out that the insides and outsides interact with each other in various ways, primarily by paralleling or working against each other. The inside-outside tension should not only create a dialectical progression, but constantly turn the book on on itself and out to the reader." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.