'We have a machine that can shrink things,' Arthur told the lady, whose name was Ms Hawkins. […] 'We need something for them to go behind and it needs a hole in it big enough for the funnel on my resizer.'

The vote also stoked fears that Swiss citizens were reflecting the zeitgeist across Europe, where right-wing populists increasingly are seizing the spotlight with an anti-immigration political agenda.

I promise you nothing,' said the dolls' dressmaker, dabbing two dabs at him with her needle, as if she put out both his eyes.

It is marked by an apolitical, sixtiesish academic concern with personal identity...