The Heads of Cerberus

adam louis stephanides · 01 Jun 1998, 16:02 · from urth-v0012.mbox · original

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From: adam louis stephanides <astephan at students.uiuc.edu>
Subject: (urth) The Heads of Cerberus
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 1998 16:02:17
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I've also been reading a book entitled _The Heads of Cerberus_, by
"Francis Stevens" (a pseudonym for Gertrude Bennett).  It was originally
published in 1919, I would guess in magazine form, but the copy I read is=20
a small-press reprint from 1952.  It's about three people from the present
who are transported by some strange dust into 22nd-century Philadelphia.
It's very much the sort of pulp Wolfe parodied in "The Last Thrilling
Wonder Story," and it's pretty bad, so much so that after I got halfway
through I just skimmed the rest.  But, though there are no thematic or
structural similarities I can detect between _Heads_ and FHC, there are a
few odd points of similarity which make it possible that Wolfe read
_Heads_ and incorporated some allusions to it.  These are:

1) A society frozen in stasis and ruled by a tyrannical government

2) People designated only by numbers (in _Heads_, everybody but the elite
in future Philadelphia

3) A library which the protagonist(s) are forbidden to enter.

I can post or email a description of the book if anyone's interested.

--Adam

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