diff --git a/src/Control.Monad.State.Async.purs b/src/Control.Monad.State.Async.purs
index e11de4f..3094c92 100644
--- a/src/Control.Monad.State.Async.purs
+++ b/src/Control.Monad.State.Async.purs
@@ -25,61 +25,42 @@ import Effect.Aff.Unlift (class MonadUnliftAff)
 import Effect.Class (class MonadEffect)
 import Effect.Unlift (class MonadUnliftEffect)
 
--- | Computations with a mutable value of type `s` that may be evaluated in parallel
--- |
--- | A `MonadStateAsync` will have access to a single state value of type `s`,
--- | and many computations may be executed concurrently accessing the same state.
--- |
--- | When a computation wishes to **read** the state, it will block until
--- | it's safe to read (when "it's safe to read" depends on the cell type; `Mutex` or `RwLock`)
--- | then it will have access to the state for a brief time.
--- |
--- | When a computation wishes to **write** a new value to the state, it will block
--- | until **exclusive** writable access is guaranteed; when a computation has this type
--- | of access no other computations will be able to read from or write to the state.
--- |
--- | Errors yielded by `MonadThrow` will be re-thrown after releasing any locks
--- | still held when the error was thrown.
--- |
--- | ### Safe vs unsafe state types
--- | Care should be taken when state types are used that are not structurally immutable,
--- | e.g. `Foreign.Object.Object` or similar mutable raw JS types.
--- |
--- | Since "reading" an object reference is no different from obtaining writable access to that
--- | object, it is possible to leak a mutable reference to the data contained in the cell from a read lock.
--- |
--- | To avoid this, ensure that state updates via `asyncPut`, `asyncModify`, and `asyncWrite`
--- | perform complete replacements with deep cloned state values and do not evaluate mutable
--- | effects against the state contained in the cell.
--- |
--- | ### Types
--- | - `w :: Type -> Type` e.g. `RwLock`
--- |   - a concurrency-safe mutable wrapper (`AsyncState`)
--- | - `wl :: Type -> Type` e.g. `WriteGuard`
--- |   - lock structure for writable access to the data in `w`
--- | - `rl :: Type -> Type` e.g. `ReadGuard`
--- |   - lock structure for readable access to the data in `w`
--- | - `s :: Type`
--- |   - type of state contained in `w`
--- | - `m :: Type -> Type` e.g. `Aff`
--- |   - any `MonadAff`
--- | - `t` e.g. `AsyncStateT`
--- |   - The monad transformer that implements this typeclass
--- |
--- | ### Operations
--- | _**Note**: all asyncX functions will block if necessary until their lock is obtained. Non-blocking versions are available as `asyncTryX`._
--- | - `asyncRead` - Reads the state value. Note that for `Mutex` concurrent `asyncRead`s will be executed serially, for `RwLock` concurrent `asyncRead`s will be executed in parallel
--- | - `asyncWrite` - Compute a new state & an arbitrary value based on the current state, commit the new state, and return the value
--- | - `asyncModify` - Compute a new state based on the current state & commit the new state
--- | - `asyncPut` - Discard the current state & replace with a new state value
--- | - `ask` (from `MonadReader`) - Get direct access to the raw Mutex / RwLock / etc.
-class MonadAsyncState :: (Type -> Type) -> (Type -> Type) -> (Type -> Type) -> Type -> (Type -> Type) -> ((Type -> Type) -> Type -> Type) -> Constraint
-class (MonadTrans t, MonadAff (t m), MonadAff m, AsyncState w wwl wrl, MonadAsk (w s) (t m)) <= MonadAsyncState w wwl wrl s m t | w -> wwl, w -> wrl, m -> w, m -> s, t -> m
+-- | Concurrency-safe monads with shared mutable state of type `s`
+class MonadAsyncState :: (Type -> Type) -> Type -> (Type -> Type) -> ((Type -> Type) -> Type -> Type) -> Constraint
+class (Monad m, MonadTrans t, MonadAsk (w s) (t m)) <= MonadAsyncState w s m t | m -> w, m -> s, t -> m
 
--- | Block until exclusive write access may be obtained,
--- | execute a computation that returns the new state (and an arbitrary value of any type),
--- | then write the new state and release the lock.
-asyncWrite :: forall w wl rl s m t a e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m t => (s -> m (a /\ s)) -> t m a
+-- | Write a new state
+-- |
+-- | Blocks until write lock is acquired,
+-- | then commits the provided state value (discarding the previous state).
+asyncPut :: forall w wl rl s m t e. AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAff (t m) => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => s -> t m Unit
+asyncPut = asyncWrite <<< const <<< pure <<< (unit /\ _)
+
+-- | Write a new state
+-- |
+-- | If write lock may be immediately acquired,
+-- | commits the provided state value (discarding the previous state) and returns `Just`.
+-- |
+-- | Otherwise, returns `Nothing`.
+asyncTryPut :: forall w wl rl s m t e. AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAff (t m) => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => s -> t m (Maybe Unit)
+asyncTryPut = asyncTryWrite <<< const <<< pure <<< (unit /\ _)
+
+-- | Write a new state
+-- |
+-- | Blocks until exclusive write access may be obtained, then invokes the provided
+-- | state update function with the current state value.
+-- |
+-- | If the state update function succeeds, the new state value will be committed and the extra
+-- | tuple value `a` will be returned.
+-- |
+-- | If the state update function throws, the error will be rethrown after releasing the write lock.
+-- |
+-- | ### Returning state values
+-- | Note that if you return the state value from the state update function, it is
+-- | strongly recommended that you ensure all state updates perform structurally immutable
+-- | updates rather than in-place mutation so that the object reference is not affected by
+-- | valid state updates performed by other concurrent computations.
+asyncWrite :: forall w wl rl s m t a e. MonadAff (t m) => AsyncState w wl rl => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => (s -> m (a /\ s)) -> t m a
 asyncWrite f = do
   state <- ask
   lock :: wl s <- State.lock state
@@ -89,11 +70,13 @@ asyncWrite f = do
   State.unlock state lock
   fst <$> liftEither e
 
--- | Non-blocking version of `asyncWrite`
+-- | Write a new state
 -- |
--- | If obtaining write access would block, instead
--- | returns `Nothing` and does not evaluate the closure.
-asyncTryWrite :: forall w wl rl s m t a e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m t => (s -> m (a /\ s)) -> t m (Maybe a)
+-- | Immediately acquires a write lock if possible, then behaves like `asyncWrite`
+-- | and returns `Just`.
+-- |
+-- | If a lock was not available immediately, does not block and returns `Nothing`
+asyncTryWrite :: forall w wl rl s m t a e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAff (t m) => AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAsyncState w s m t => (s -> m (a /\ s)) -> t m (Maybe a)
 asyncTryWrite f = do
   state <- ask
   lockM :: Maybe (wl s) <- State.tryLock state
@@ -104,22 +87,61 @@ asyncTryWrite f = do
     State.unlock state lock
     fst <$> liftEither e
 
--- | Obtain exclusive access to writing the state, execute a computation that returns the new state,
--- | then write the new state and release the lock.
-asyncModify :: forall w wl rl s m t e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m t => (s -> m s) -> t m Unit
+-- | Write a new state
+-- |
+-- | Blocks until exclusive write access may be obtained, then invokes the provided
+-- | state update function with the current state value.
+-- |
+-- | If the state update function succeeds, the new state value will be committed.
+-- |
+-- | If the state update function throws, the error will be rethrown after releasing the write lock.
+asyncModify :: forall w wl rl s m t e. AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAff (t m) => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => (s -> m s) -> t m Unit
 asyncModify f = asyncWrite (map (unit /\ _) <<< f)
 
--- | Non-blocking version of `asyncModify`
+-- | Write a new state
 -- |
--- | If obtaining write access would block, instead
--- | returns `Nothing` and does not evaluate the closure.
-asyncTryModify :: forall w wl rl s m t e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m t => (s -> m s) -> t m (Maybe Unit)
+-- | Immediately acquires a write lock if possible, then behaves like `asyncModify`
+-- | and returns `Just`.
+-- |
+-- | If a lock was not available immediately, does not block and returns `Nothing`
+asyncTryModify :: forall w wl rl s m t e. AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAff (t m) => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => (s -> m s) -> t m (Maybe Unit)
 asyncTryModify f = asyncTryWrite (map (unit /\ _) <<< f)
 
--- | Obtains a read lock (for `Mutex` this is exclusive; for `RwLock` many reads may be executed in parallel)
--- | and execute a computation that has read lock access to the state value. After the computation finishes,
--- | the read lock will be released.
-asyncRead :: forall w wl rl s m t a e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m t => (s -> m a) -> t m a
+-- | Get the current state
+-- |
+-- | Blocks until a read lock may be acquired, then returns the current state.
+-- |
+-- | ### Returning state values
+-- | Note that if you return the state value from the state update function, it is
+-- | strongly recommended that you ensure all state updates perform structurally immutable
+-- | updates rather than in-place mutation so that the object reference is not affected by
+-- | valid state updates performed by other concurrent computations.
+asyncGet :: forall w wl rl s m t e. AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAff (t m) => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => t m s
+asyncGet = asyncRead pure
+
+-- | If a read lock may be acquired immediately, acquires it and returns the current
+-- | state in `Just`.
+-- |
+-- | Otherwise returns `Nothing`.
+-- |
+-- | ### Returning state values
+-- | Note that if you return the state value from the state update function, it is
+-- | strongly recommended that you ensure all state updates perform structurally immutable
+-- | updates rather than in-place mutation so that the object reference is not affected by
+-- | valid state updates performed by other concurrent computations.
+asyncTryGet :: forall w wl rl s m t e. AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAff (t m) => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => t m (Maybe s)
+asyncTryGet = asyncTryRead pure
+
+-- | Get the current state
+-- |
+-- | Blocks until a read lock may be acquired, then applies a mapping function to the current state.
+-- |
+-- | ### Returning state values
+-- | Note that if you return the state value from the state update function, it is
+-- | strongly recommended that you ensure all state updates perform structurally immutable
+-- | updates rather than in-place mutation so that the object reference is not affected by
+-- | valid state updates performed by other concurrent computations.
+asyncRead :: forall w wl rl s m t a e. AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAff (t m) => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => (s -> m a) -> t m a
 asyncRead f = do
   state <- ask
   lock :: rl s <- State.lock state
@@ -128,11 +150,19 @@ asyncRead f = do
   State.unlock state lock
   liftEither e
 
--- | Non-blocking version of `asyncRead`
+-- | Get the current state
 -- |
--- | If obtaining read access would block, instead
--- | returns `Nothing` and does not evaluate the closure.
-asyncTryRead :: forall w wl rl s m t a e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m t => (s -> m a) -> t m (Maybe a)
+-- | If a read lock may be immediately acquired, acquires the lock then applies
+-- | a mapping function to the current state, returning `Just`.
+-- |
+-- | Otherwise returns `Nothing`.
+-- |
+-- | ### Returning state values
+-- | Note that if you return the state value from the state update function, it is
+-- | strongly recommended that you ensure all state updates perform structurally immutable
+-- | updates rather than in-place mutation so that the object reference is not affected by
+-- | valid state updates performed by other concurrent computations.
+asyncTryRead :: forall w wl rl s m t a e. AsyncState w wl rl => MonadAff (t m) => MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w s m t => (s -> m a) -> t m (Maybe a)
 asyncTryRead f = do
   state <- ask
   lockM :: Maybe (rl s) <- State.tryLock state
@@ -142,18 +172,6 @@ asyncTryRead f = do
     State.unlock state lock
     liftEither e
 
--- | Discard the existing state and replace it with a new value.
--- |
--- | Blocks if necessary until write access is obtained.
-asyncPut :: forall w wl rl s m t e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m t => s -> t m Unit
-asyncPut = asyncWrite <<< const <<< pure <<< (unit /\ _)
-
--- | Non-blocking version of `asyncPut`, returning `Just unit` if
--- | write access can be obtained without blocking.
--- | Otherwise, returns `Nothing`.
-asyncTryPut :: forall w wl rl s m t e. MonadError e (t m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m t => s -> t m (Maybe Unit)
-asyncTryPut = asyncTryWrite <<< const <<< pure <<< (unit /\ _)
-
 -- | Implementation of `MonadAsyncState`
 newtype AsyncStateT :: (Type -> Type) -> Type -> (Type -> Type) -> Type -> Type
 newtype AsyncStateT w s m ma = AsyncStateT (ReaderT (w s) m ma)
@@ -189,7 +207,7 @@ instance (MonadBracket e f m) => MonadBracket e f (AsyncStateT w s m) where
   uninterruptible a = wrap $ uninterruptible $ unwrap a
   never = wrap never
 
-instance (AsyncState w wl rl, MonadAff m) => MonadAsyncState w wl rl s m (AsyncStateT w s)
+instance (AsyncState w wl rl, MonadAff m) => MonadAsyncState w s m (AsyncStateT w s)
 
 -- | `AsyncStateT` pinned to use `RwLock`
 type RwLockStateT s m = AsyncStateT RwLock s m