Publisher's Synopsis
A novel about a doctor who develops a method of eradicating painful memories from people's brains so that they can feel good about life again. Edward Bellamy (1850-1898) was an American author and socialist, most famous for his utopian novel set in the year 2000, Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887, published in 1888. His books include Dr. Heidenhoff's Process (1880), Miss Ludington's Sister (1884), Equality (1897) and The Duke of Stockbridge: A Romance of Shays' Rebellion (1900). His feeling of injustice in the economic system led him to write Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887 and its sequel, Equality. In Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887 an upper class man from 1887 awakens in 2000 from a hypnotic trance to find himself in a socialist utopia. It influenced a large number of intellectuals, and appears by title in many of the major Marxist writings of the day. His novel also inspired several utopian communities. A short story The Parable of the Water-Tank from the book Equality, published in 1897, was popular with a number of early American socialists. Less successful than its prequel, Equality continues the story of Julian West as he adjusts to life in the future..... Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 - May 22, 1898) was an American author and socialist, most famous for his utopian novel, Looking Backward, a tale set in the distant future of the year 2000. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of at least 165 "Nationalist Clubs" dedicated to the propagation of Bellamy's political ideas and working to make them a practical reality. *Early years* Edward Bellamy was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts. His father was Rufus King Bellamy (1816-1886), a Baptist minister and a descendant of Joseph Bellamy.His mother, Maria Louisa Putnam Bellamy, was herself the daughter of a Baptist minister named Benjamin Putnam, a man forced to withdraw from the ministry in Salem, Massachusetts, following objections to his becoming a Freemason.Bellamy attended public school at Chicopee Falls before leaving for Union College of Schenectady, New York, where he studied for just two semesters.Upon leaving school, Bellamy made his way to Europe for a year, spending extensive time in Germany.Bellamy briefly studied law but abandoned that field without ever having practiced as a lawyer, instead entering the world of journalism. In this capacity Bellamy briefly served on the staff of the New York Post before returning to his native Massachusetts to take a position at the Springfield Union.At the age of 25, Bellamy developed tuberculosis, the disease that would ultimately kill him.He suffered with its effects throughout his adult life. In an effort to regain his health, Bellamy spent a year in the Hawaiian Islands (1877 to 1878).Returning to the United States, Bellamy decided to abandon the daily grind of journalism in favor of literary work, which put fewer demands upon his time and his health.Bellamy married Emma Augusta Sanderson in 1882. The couple had two children.
