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Golden Book of Springfield

The Golden Book of Springfield is American poet Vachel Lindsay's strange and mystical odyssey through the Springfield, Illinois of 2018, where the residents of that city strive to turn their home into a democratic utopia. It is a "Springfield a hundred years hence," a dreamlike space of spiritual and social awakenings. But when the threat of international war begins to loom over the horizon, the citizens of Springfield must find new ways to protect their city and keep it a "practical City of God." This is Vachel Lindsay's only long-form narrative work and a fascinating entry into the utopian fiction subgenre that came about after the publication of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. - Summary by Chuck Williamson (9 hr 22 min)

Chapters

Chapter I - The Campbellite, the Florist, and the Hostess

Chapter II - The Prognosticator's Club

Chapter III - How People in 1920 Think the Book Will Come, in 2018

Chapter IV - History of the Michaels

Chapter V - I Myself Enter into the Springfield of 2018

Chapter VI - Kopensky versus Boone

Chapter VII - The Drug Stores, Coffee Houses, and Dance Halls

Chapter VIII - The Springfield Flag

Chapter IX - The Beginning of the Flying Machine Riots

Chapter X - The End of the Flying Machine Riots

Chapter XI - St. Friend, and His Two Religious Orders

Chapter XII - The Yellow Dance Halls Are Abolished

Chapter XIII - Surto Hurdenburg is Lynched

Chapter XIV - In the House of the Man From Singapore

Chapter XV - Further Experiences in That Strange Mansion

Chapter XVI - The Return of Joseph Bartholdi Michael

Chapter XVII - The Lynching of Boone. The Interregnum of the Diary. The Golden …

Chapter XVIII - St. Friend and Avanel Read From the Golden Book

Chapter XIX - Avanel and I Ascend to the Jungles of Heaven