“The Vanilla Kid was the only name any of us knew for him; and, at that time, the only name Kid knew for himself. He was one of the street people: those who had disappeared from another life and would disappear from this one, too.” —So begins the story. Who he was before, and who he was after—and how he sorted it (them!) all out—is a witty and bizarre tale built on mind games pitting Identity versus Deception. The Vanilla Kid is a labyrinth of wry twists and turns, a series of illusions which will challenge the reader to new insights— all leading toward that enigma called Self. But even these supposedly lofty thoughts are offered up with an ever-present sense for the absurd.