The Comet: A Classic Short Story of Race, Catastrophe, and Human Reckoning
What remains of civilization when the world suddenly goes silent?
When a mysterious comet passes over New York City, its poisonous gases seem to wipe out nearly everyone in its path. Jim Davis, a Black bank messenger, survives by chance after being sent deep below the city on an errand. When he returns to the streets above, he finds Manhattan transformed into a silent, abandoned world.
Amid the ruins, Jim discovers another survivor: Julia, a wealthy white woman whose life would have been separated from his by every social boundary of the age. Alone together in what may be the end of the world, they are forced to confront not only death, fear, and isolation, but also the fragile rules that once governed race, class, power, and human worth.
First published in 1920, The Comet is one of W. E. B. Du Bois's most striking works of fiction. Compact, haunting, and remarkably ahead of its time, the story blends early science fiction with sharp social commentary, creating an apocalyptic vision that remains powerful more than a century later. In only a few pages, Du Bois imagines a world stripped of its ordinary structures and asks a devastating question: if humanity were reduced to only two people, would prejudice survive?
This edition presents The Comet as a standalone classic for modern readers. It is ideal for readers of literary fiction, early science fiction, African American literature, social criticism, and classic works that continue to speak directly to the present.
Thoughtfully prepared with a clean, readable interior and a professionally designed cover, this edition is made for readers, students, collectors, and anyone discovering Du Bois's fiction for the first time.
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