In this ... "brutal, uncompromising allegory about the consequences of imprisonment and rebellion ... The inmates have taken over an institution in a bleak and savage world in which everyone's a dwarf. As one of the institution's directors holds a rebel hostage while issuing orders for calm, the other inmates run amok, smashing equipment, setting fires, fighting for power and tormenting two blind prisoners. In this land of reversed proportions, these revolutionary outcasts not only destroy the symbols of civilization-- cars, typewriters and dinner plates-- but trees and flowers and animals as well."--Container.