Through the Eye of the Needle

By: William Dean Howells

Utopian Classic! Aristides Homos, Howells's Altrurian protagonist, writes a series of letters home to his friend Cyril. Homos is now located in the densely urban environment of NY, where he confronts the contrasts between America and his own pastoral and agrarian Utopianism in their most extreme forms. In Altruria, which is an explicitly Christian country, money has been abolished, so its inhabitants have even forgotten that there used to be a division between rich and poor. Every citizen is entitled to everything they need at any given time, so there is no need to save, while amassing a fortune is impossible as well. Physical labor is shared amongst the working population so that no one has to work for more than three hours per day. Also, there is no need to hurry so that craftsmanship flourishes and resembles a work of art. Enthused by Altruria, a Unitarian minister Edward Biron Payne and thirty of his followers founded Altruria, a short-lived Utopian community in California.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1449523919
• ISBN13: 9781449523916
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"