Specter Is Haunting Texas — Fritz Leiber

Scully La Cruz was a Thin -- a muscleless free-fall phenomenon whose home was the Sack circling the Moon, who could only support life in Earth-gravity conditions by having himself encased in a titanium exo-skeleton. To the inhabitants of the ravaged post-war Earth, he looked spectrally outlandish.

To Scully, the inhabitants of Earth looked equally odd, Because the U.S.A. had disappeared in the aftermath of the atomic conflict and had been replaced by Greater Texas. And Greater Texas was dominated by the Greater Texans, masterful giants created by hormone treatments, who strode lordly about amidst their dwarvish peons and slaves.

To these unhappy underlings, Scully appeared as a Sign, a leader for revolt. To Scully, this reverence sparked his actor instinct sufficiently to make him decide to accept that role.

This is one of Fritz Leiber's most astonishing and satirical novels...a caricature of the future as lively, chilling and ultimately serious of purpose as a Jules Feiffer cartoon.