Review of “The Man in Asbestos” (1911)
Stephen Leacock (writer).
Read in 2026.
After a hearty meal, the narrator puts himself to sleep so thoroughly that he wakes up when people have stopped keeping track of time.
Though “The Man in Asbestos” is presented as a dystopian parody of The Time Machine (1895), Leacock sincerely affirms the core thesis of Wells’s novel, that humans are “kept keen on the grindstone”.
References here: Player Piano (1952).