
The author weaves a personal memoir with a broad‑scale critique of the economic structures that shape our lives. Drawing on decades of experience as a speculator, businessman, and observer of history’s darkest chapters, he offers a candid, often stark, assessment of how profit‑driven systems can clash with humanity’s innate compassion. With a tone that feels both humble and urgent, he proposes a thoughtful, if unconventional, remedy that seeks to restore balance without sparking social upheaval.
Against this backdrop, the narrative follows a chance encounter on a New York park bench, where the narrator befriends a solitary young man named Fred Balmore. Fred, haunted by family expectations, a revoked pilot’s license, and a recent stint in an asylum, hints at a desperate yearning to reclaim his freedom—culminating in a reckless dash into a dormant bomber at a government airfield. Their evolving conversation becomes a window into the personal toll of a flawed system, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of redemption and societal change.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (335K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
Philadelphia: World Publication Press, 1951.
Credits
Aaron Adrignola, Tim Lindell, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
Release date
2024-01-05
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
1876–1975
Best remembered for a single unusual novel, this little-known writer imagined a Martian society as a way to question injustice on Earth. His work blends science-fiction adventure with utopian and social ideas in a direct, old-fashioned style.
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