Mindswap
It all started with a perfectly ordinary classified ad:
"Gentleman from Mars, age 43, quiet, studious, cultured, wishes to exchange bodies with similarly inclined Earth gentleman; August 1- September 1. References exchanged. Brokers. Protected."
At 31, Marvin Flynn was practically an adult; was it merely the vestiges of adolescent foolishness that sent him to the body-brokerage firm of Otis, Blanders and Klent? Or was it extraterrestrial fervor? Whatever it was, Marvin knew he must see the Burrows of Mars, the Talking Ocean, the Disappearing Desert and – above all – Mud Heaven.
What he didn't know was that more than one person had claims on the body of Ze Kraggash, and that before he was finished he would see more strange sights – through even stranger eyes – than he had ever imagined; that in his desperate struggle for continued corporeal existence he would fall prey to Metaphoric Deformation, the limitations of the Set Expansion Factor, and at last descend/ascend/extend to the strange and unexplainable reaches of the Twisted World – for the ultimate MINDSWAP!
Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley (1928–2005) was a Hugo and Nebula nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist and comical.
Sheckley was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2001.