author

James Howard Calisch

1863–1926

Best known for a quirky 1915 satire set on Mars, this little-remembered writer mixed speculative fiction with political humor. He also appears in Library of Congress records as a songwriter, suggesting a creative life that stretched beyond books.

1 Audiobook

The Mania of the Nations on the Planet Mars and its Terrific Consequences

The Mania of the Nations on the Planet Mars and its Terrific Consequences

by James Howard Calisch

About the author

James Howard Calisch was an early 20th-century writer whose best-documented work is The Mania of the Nations on the Planet Mars and Its Terrific Consequences, published in 1915. The book’s subtitle, A Combination of Fun and Wisdom, hints at its blend of satire, fantasy, and social commentary.

Library of Congress records also credit him with words and music for songs including Do We Remember Dewey?, Our Guardian in New York Bay, and Hark to the Country's Call. That makes him an interesting figure to place: not just a novelist, but a writer working across page and song.

Reliable biographical details about his life remain scarce in the sources available here. Based on the dates commonly attached to his name, he lived from 1863 to 1926, and today he is remembered mainly through surviving catalog records and modern reprints of his Martian satire.