PALLEN, Conde B(enoist)

(1858-1929)

   US writer and editor; in the latter capacity he was one of the editors, with C.G. Herbermann and others, of The Catholic Encyclopedia (15 vols 1907-18). Crucible Island: A Romance, an Adventure and anExperiment (1919), a DYSTOPIA, describes the disillusioning experiences of a young radical who is transported to Schlectland, where socialism has been allowed to run rampant, and who comes to his senses while falling in love with the daughter of a longtime resident. They escape to the USA. En passant, points are scored against FEMINISM and the Irish. In Ghost House (1928) a device is invented which reads details of a murder from thewalls.

   JC