The Fabulous Journey of Hieronymous Meeker

TitleThe Fabulous Journey of Hieronymous Meeker
Year for Search1954
Authors[Meeker], [Willy Johns]
Tertiary AuthorsJohns, Willy [pseud.]
Date Published1954
PublisherLittle, Brown
Place PublishedBoston, MA
KeywordsMale author, US author
Annotation

Gulliver type on an unknown planet. There is one dystopian country of humanoid plants and one dystopian country of vicious, warlike giants. Another country is a satire on the United States in the early 1950s with specific reference to Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908-57) and his anti-Communist crusade. The novel ends with an inegalitarian eutopia in which each person takes on the physical characteristics of their position in society. The society recognizes no absolutes. Its aims to practice freedom from religion, from vegetarians, from temperance, from feminism, and from progress as well as freedom of difference and freedom of laughter. Its chief ideal is increasing awareness. Includes a discussion and rejection of the concept of utopia (304-07). The beginning of the novel and the Epilogue are set on a post-World War 4 physically devastated but overpopulated Earth dominated by the American Empire. 

Pseudonym

Willy Johns [pseud.]

Holding Institutions

NcD, PSt

Author Note

Three usually reliable sources give the author’s name as either Willy Johns Meeker or W. Johns Meeker, but I have been unable to confirm this.

Full Text

1954 [Meeker, Willy Johns]. The Fabulous Journey of Hieronymous Meeker. By Willy Johns [pseud.]. Boston, MA: Little, Brown. NcD, PSt

Gulliver type on an unknown planet. There is one dystopian country of humanoid plants and one dystopian country of vicious, warlike giants. Another country is a satire on the United States in the early 1950s with specific reference to Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908-57) and his anti-Communist crusade. The novel ends with an inegalitarian eutopia in which each person takes on the physical characteristics of their position in society. The society recognizes no absolutes. Its aims to practice freedom from religion, from vegetarians, from temperance, from feminism, and from progress as well as freedom of difference and freedom of laughter. Its chief ideal is increasing awareness. Includes a discussion and rejection of the concept of utopia (304-07). The beginning of the novel and the Epilogue are set on a post-World War 4 physically devastated but overpopulated Earth dominated by the American Empire. Three usually reliable sources give the author’s name as either Willy Johns Meeker or W. Johns Meeker, but I have been unable to confirm this.