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When science fiction jumped from pulp magazines to full books during the mass-market paperback revolution of the 1950s, publisher Ace Books used an innovative new format known as Tête-bêche.

Spoken extracts from his popular stream-of-consciousness novella “Tête-Bêche” provide a soundtrack for the moving trams.

The book – a “��ê�ٱ�-��ê�����”, or “head-to-tail” edition, in which each poet’s work occupies a part of the book, which is printed upside down in relation to the other’s – is dedicated to their elder sister, Dana.

With Ace Doubles stopping production in the early 70s and the Gollancz Binary 2 series out in the early 90s, any fans of the ��ê�ٱ�-��ê����� format should get their fixes while they can ... based on the trend, it might be another 20 years before the head-to-tail book is back in favour again.

At about the same time, US outfit Generation Next Publications unveiled its new Flip It series of ��ê�ٱ�-��ê����� books, slightly different in that they feature two novels by the same author – their first one is by American horror writer William Meikle.