"The Food of the Gods"

1903-04 Wells, H[erbert] G[eorge] (1866-1946). “The Food of the Gods.” Illus. Cyrus Cuneo. Pearson’s Magazine 16 - 17 (December 1903 - June 1904): 708-28; 101-15, 211-28, 324-40, 434-51, 551-64, 660-75. U.S. serialization with illus. by Cuneo Cosmopolitan 36 - 37 (November 1903 - August 1904): 33-50, 227-40, 299-313, 395-411, 525-38, 643-56; 29-40, 193-200, 283-90, 461-69. Repub. rev. and with the subtitle And How It Came to Earth. London: Macmillan, 1904. Rpt. London Gollancz, 2010, with an “Introduction” by Adam Roberts (v-viii). U.S ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1904; rpt. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1924. Rpt. in The Works of H.G. Wells Atlantic Edition. Volume V The Food of the Gods The Sea Lady (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925), 1-306. The Atlantic Edition is generally considered the best text of Wells’s works. L, LLL, PSt

New food produces giants who are also of superior intelligence. Conflict with the “little people” follows. The giants decide to allow the little people to live but expect them to die out. Little detailed utopianism but includes a section on how the giant children should be educated and brief glimpses of possible ways of improving life for the little people. Parodied in G[eorge] E[dward] Farrow, The Food of the Dogs and What Became of It. A Travesty. With Ample Apologies to Mr. H.G. Wells. London: Brimley, Johnson & Ince, [1904].