In 1962, the 23 year-old Beagle was at a career crossroads. His fantasy novel A Fine and Private Place had been released in 1960, but his mainstream second book had been rejected by his publisher. What Peter wrote next was an 80-page fragment about a unicorn, the last of her kind, lost in the modern world of superhighways and Kodak cameras, with only a banished demon from Hell for a traveling companion. This version includes an introduction and commentary by the author.