IT HAS BECOME the custom in recent years for books to carry a general subject designation on their back covers—presumably to help the retailer know where to shelve the work. Death at the Parasite Cafe is listed by its publisher as “Sociology/ Postmodern Theory/Fiction.” The jacket-copy of the book explains: “This is a disturbing theoretical fiction of contemporary shifts from modern to ultramodern rituals of patriarchal, racist, and economic power.” I often find myself at odds with such blurbs, but in this instance one could hardly do better. Caveat emptor!