I picked this up because I really wanted to read Pontypool, but somehow got the mistaken impression that this was not only part of, but also a prior installment in, some sort of arc involving Bewdley that should be read *before* Pontypool Changes Everything.
This is in fact, not the case. I would also hazard that this is likely not the ideal introduction to Burgess for the totally uninitiated. 
Don't get me wrong, the writing in these 16 short pieces is as innovative, lush, and strange as you may have heard. But unless you're here for the pure poetry of it, I don't know that there's enough in most of these fragments to adhere and engage ones attention. I found myself reading a number of entries twice, the language and structure really are stunning, but its just not my thing. I think folks already fans of Burgess will likely get a lot more out of this. I'm still going to give Pontypool a shot (and maybe the n-body problem) not that I've been disabused of my mistaken notions.