Zimmerman presents a new edition of Apuleius' Metamorphoses, also known as Asinus Aureus ('The Golden Ass'), which was written in the second century AD and is the only ancient Latin novel to survive in its entirety. It tells the tale of a young man who, by magic, is changed into an ass. However, before he is able to regain his human form through the grace of the goddess Isis, the lively narrative describes his bawdy adventures and narrow escapes from danger and threats of death. One of the most influential novels in Western literature, it has inspired writers since the early Italian humanists, and continues to do so.

Based on the latest research into the manuscript tradition, Zimmerman's edition traces the text's appearance since the eleventh-century manuscript Laurentianus 68.2 to a number of younger manuscripts. This is explained in the English preface, which also points to the importance of some of the earliest printed editions. In establishing her new text edition, Zimmerman has built on important recent research on the language and style of the literary artist Apuleius.