Inventing Tomorrow was super interesting. It makes me wish I was better at writing reviews. I definitely learned a lot of things I didn't know before and enjoyed the book.

I admit I'm probably not the intended audience for this book. I've read H.G. Wells' The Time Machine and War of the Worlds, and I'm very interested in the history of science fiction, but I'm not as well versed in his broader body of work. Sarah Cole's Inventing Tomorrow is an academic study of Wells's writing that takes him seriously as an early 20th century author. Not an early 20th century science fiction author - just an author.

Cole tries to situate Wells in the postmodern literature of the early 20th century, show both how he fit within the movement and how he stood apart. She argues that, like other postmodern works, Wells' books and short stories are best read together for a deeper intertextual experience. However, more so than his contemporaries, Wells believed in using the power of literature as a vehicle for social commentary. Wells could be preachy. 

I was particularly interested in Cole's discussion of The Outline of History, a book I haven't read but was apparently one of Wells' most influential at the time. Cole shows Wells' unique take on a history textbook, including his acknowledgement of different disagreement amongst historians on some matters and his Hegelian belief in the progress of mankind. 

I would really only recommend this book to scholars of literature who are well versed in H.G. Wells' work. This is not a biography of H.G. Wells, nor is it an introduction to his works. It's a serious piece of academic scholarship that attempts to break down the bias many English Departments still have against genre literature. 

[Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]

Thoughtful and insightful, this exploration of H G Wells, the man, the thinker, the scientist and the writer is essential reading for anyone interested in him and his work. It’s a serious and academic work, and possibly not one for the general reader, but I found it clearly and accessibly written and enjoyable, informative and extremely interesting.

H.G.Wells was such a significant figure to the 19th century literary (and 20th century film) world(s) that this gem of a book will be snatched up by anyone interested in his coterie of friends/writers and for some new thoughts on his overall impact and a sense of the relationships that existed between these people. I had hardly dived in before I found Cole's comments gave me immense food for thought--for instance, she offers Virginia Woolf as Wells' foil while pretty much glossing over Rebecca West, a favorite of feminist readers and far more significant than she (West) was given credit for being. Another interesting relationship is that of Wells and Joseph Conrad. The reader comes away with a different presentation of Conrad (and his literary relationship with/influence on Wells) than is presented by Helen Smith in An Uncommon Reader, where the latter author showed Conrad to be a needy person who leaned on editor Edward Garnett. Upshot? If you love 19th century literature, you should want to look at this book. Thank you #NetGalley #Columbia University Press