From master storyteller T. C. Boyle, a hilarious, incisive deep-dive into human behaviour. It is 1994, and in the desert near Tillman, Arizona, a grand experiment involving the future of humanity is underway. As climate change threatens the earth, eight scientists, four men and four women dubbed the "Terranauts," have been selected to live under glass in E2, a prototype of a possible off-earth colony. They are closely monitored by an all-seeing Mission Control. The young, strapping Terranauts must impress a sceptical media curious to see if E2's environment will somehow be compromised.