I bought The King in Yellow, a work I've been vaguely aware of for years, as a sort of forerunner to Lovecraft-style cosmic horror. I decided it's finally time I gave it a look, and started reading it yesterday.
It was written in 1895 but takes place in 1920, and it was a bit funny to see the POV character briefly sum up a recent war between the US and Germany… over Germany seizing the Samoan Islands. It was apparently mostly a naval war, though Germany did land troops in Florida. He goes on to describe how well things are overall going, with a blossoming of beautiful architecture and city infrastructure, there are lots of parks, arts are blooming, there's an improved situation for Native Americans (they've taken over as the military's cavalry, complete with native garb in place of regular uniforms), Futurama-style suicide booths have just been legalized… and there's a new, separate state for black people and foreign-born Jews have been banned from the country "as a matter of self-preservation". Whatever that means.
It's kind of funny.
by Jerswar