Samuel Butler

Although educated and trained for a career in the clergy, Samuel Butler began to harbor serious doubts about his vocation and Christian morals in general at an early age. Although he addressed these issues in earnest debate with his colleagues and family members, Butler's confusion only worsened over time. He began to explore his concerns about Victorian-era hypocrisy in writing, penning a series of philosophically minded novels and social satires,

Whether you're a long-time fan of British author Samuel Butler (best known for his shrewd satire of utopian fiction, Erewhon) or you're just diving into his diverse body of work, this omnibus collection is an engaging read that's sure to catch and hold your interest. It contains excerpts from both his fiction and his non-fiction and serves as a suitable overview of his unique oeuvre.

On the verge of entering the Anglican clergy, Samuel Butler experienced a sudden change of heart and instead decided to set sail for New Zealand, where he established a sheep farm. Butler chronicles his rocky start as a rancher—and his opinions on a wide variety of current events and controversies—in this engaging series of letters to his family.

Samuel Butler's Erewhon, or Over the Range was published anonymously 1872. In this satire of Victorian society, the main character Higgs discovers an unknown country, the seeming utopia called Erewhon, Nowhere backwards with the "h" and "w" transposed. The starting chapters detailing the discovery of Erewhon were based on Butler's experiences in New Zealand as a young man. Butler was possibly the first to write about the idea that