Enoch Soames

Enoch Soames is a decadent poet as mediocre as he is pedantic, the author of three works that, much to his regret, have not brought him any fame or prestige. Convinced of being a writer of talent unjustly ignored, he dreams of the recognition that, perhaps, he receives posthumously. One day, while dining in London's Soho with Beerbohm, the involuntary witness to his misfortunes, a character with the appearance of a quarrelsome who claims to be the devil offers him the opportunity to travel to the future to see what posterity has in store for him. Originally published in The Century Magazine in 1916, this account was later included in the collection Seven Men (1919), as well as in the mythical Anthology of Fantastic Literature (1940) by Borges, Casares and Ocampo. Halfway between satire, naturalism and fantasy, Enoch Soames is one of the most ingenious and enduring pieces of humorous literature.