Publisher's Synopsis
"Erewhon" (or, Over the Range) is a novel by Samuel Butler which was first published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed where Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country. Butler meant the title to be read as "nowhere" backwards even though the letters "h" and "w" are transposed, as it would have been pronounced in his day (and still is in some dialects of English). The book is a satire on Victorian society.After a series of near-mishaps, a traveler stumbles into a place utterly unknown to him -- only to be jailed: for in this odd place being penniless is tantamount to criminality. Slowly learning the language and gaining the confidence of his hosts, he comes to know their strange ways and their stranger ideas and institutions -- including the Hospital for Incurable Bores, the College of Unreason -- and the Museum of Old Machines!
