"War with the Newts" is simply amazing.

I read this book as part of a University course in "Russian & Eastern European Sci-Fi literature", and reading this book was just about the only time I wasn't slightly bitter about having signed up for the course. Like the NYT article states, it paints a vivid picture of how our very human, not-quite-good-but-just-OK intentions frequently lead to utter catastrophe, despite their seeming relatively innocuous at the onset.

It's a damn fun read, too.