Dead Men's Shoes, or, The One Hundred Per Cent Inheritance Tax
Dent Publishing Co., 1920. Hardcover. A deeply strange book, about which we have been able to discover very little. A handful of copies listed in OCLC. The author's name is likely a pseudonym.
The entire book is constructed around the conceit of a "Universal Wireless Tele-psycho-phone", a mysterious device allowing the transmission of the message of the narrator "Iconoclast" to anyone paying attention, but vulnerable to frequent interruption by other transmitters or "intrusive voices". Iconoclast's political and economic oratory becomes increasingly philosophical, allusive, anecdotal, mystical and prophetic, as do the interruptions. A parable set in ancient Egypt is interrupted mid-sentence by a worker in 2000 Chicago, "just alighted from the monorail-car". There may also be a romantic plot, but it's hard to tell.
Sturdy brown covers, faded lettering on the spine. Foxing to endpapers. 245pp. Printed at the press of the Hicks-Judd Company of San Francisco. 7.75 x 5.25" Very Good. Item #2025-R107
Price: $500.00