Spencer begins with an idea in the Platonist sense, which he proceeds to unfold, to spatialize and temporalize in the universe of fiction.

There are traditional dishes such as Mopani worms, mogodu or unbleached tripe; and umngqusho, which is braised beef shin with maize porridge, billed as former President Nelson Mandela's favourite dish.

The bibliographic data are recorded on magnetic tape, and the computer is used to compile the indexes and to phototypeset the information for publication.

She had outraged every rule of the court, mocked their proprieties, and infringed their decorums; yet they talked of her genius, and called her la Reine philosophique.