The Book Fiasco was the only Book Stanislaw Lem ever accepted money for before having written it. Him having to leave Poland to Austria, as the Last Fall of the Iron Curtain on the Lech Walesa Inspired Solidarnosc Trade Union Movement resulted in a Declaration of Martial Law in Poland (Which would have certainly been felt in the suburbs of Warsaw Lem was living, and it would certainly have influenced the people he conversed and interacted with, to the limit of him fearing for his mental and even physical safety), might have contributed to his novel decision in his writing career.
A few notable Quotes from the Book.
First there was the uncrossable threshold of the head-on collision of forces on the planet: the power of the payloads, ballistic accuracy, and the potential consequence of both—a fatal nuclear winter—meant the inevitable cessation of war.
- Stanislaw Lem, Fiasco,
"Use your head." Tempe got up, unable to sit still. "No matter how the game ends, what we did, we did. Contact between intelligences—my God. If you have to curse someone, then curse SETI, curse CETI, curse the day you decided to become a 'psychozoic discoverer. ' Better yet, keep your mouth shut. That's the smartest thing that you can do."
- Stanislaw Lem, Fiasco