What do you think?
Rate this book
The Box From Japan
Harry Stephen Keeler projects his mind into the future and unwinds a high-powered mystery yarn of the year 1942! Television in the coming decade furnishes the initial episode in this unique plot by the mystery-writer who, according to the American News Company, is now ranked as one of the 'Big Four' with Wallace, Oppenheim and Van Dine.
"An unclaimed box from Japan in an Express Company auction sale, its counterpart in London revealed by a new transatlantic television process, and a cable of inquiry are the prelude to a wave of murder, violence and intrigue in Chicago. Keeler takes a Gargantuan step ahead of his rivals in this new thriller.
"An unclaimed box from Japan in an Express Company auction sale, its counterpart in London revealed by a new transatlantic television process, and a cable of inquiry are the prelude to a wave of murder, violence and intrigue in Chicago. Keeler takes a Gargantuan step ahead of his rivals in this new thriller.
532 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
20 people want to read
About the author
Harry Stephen Keeler
168 books55 followersBorn in Chicago in 1890, Keeler spent his childhood exclusively in this city, which was so beloved by the author that a large number of his works took place in and around it. In many of his novels, Keeler refers to Chicago as "the London of the west." The expression is explained in the opening of Thieves' Nights (1929):
"Here ... were seemingly the same hawkers ... selling the same goods ... here too was the confusion, the babble of tongues of many lands, the restless, shoving throng containing faces and features of a thousand racial castes, and last but not least, here on Halsted and Maxwell streets, Chicago, were the same dirt, flying bits of torn paper, and confusion that graced the junction of Middlesex and Whitechapel High streets far across the globe."
Other locales for Keeler novels include New Orleans and New York. In his later works, Keeler's settings are often more generic settings such as Big River, or a city in which all buildings and streets are either nameless or fictional. Keeler is known to have visited London at least once, but his occasional depictions of British characters are consistently implausible.
"Here ... were seemingly the same hawkers ... selling the same goods ... here too was the confusion, the babble of tongues of many lands, the restless, shoving throng containing faces and features of a thousand racial castes, and last but not least, here on Halsted and Maxwell streets, Chicago, were the same dirt, flying bits of torn paper, and confusion that graced the junction of Middlesex and Whitechapel High streets far across the globe."
Other locales for Keeler novels include New Orleans and New York. In his later works, Keeler's settings are often more generic settings such as Big River, or a city in which all buildings and streets are either nameless or fictional. Keeler is known to have visited London at least once, but his occasional depictions of British characters are consistently implausible.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 7, 2022
A real beast of a book, even for Harry Stephen Keeler. The 765 pages of extra small typeface may make The Box from Japan the longest book, word-count-wise, I’ve ever read.
The book, typically of HSK, is bonkers. There’s a long run - several chapters worth - of tech talk explaining a futuristic audio-visual transmission process which is the most tedious thing I can remember reading (published in 1932, The Box from Japan takes place in 1942). Still, though, when Keeler’s on a roll he’s a lot of fun.
As always with Keeler, beware of the author’s unique brand of racism. Just about everyone not a Chicago WASP gets a dose here.
If you’ve already familiar with Keeler and are interested in taking a stab at The Box from Japan, be forewarned: much of it’s a chore. If you haven’t read Keeler and want to give it a go, don’t. Start with his The Riddle of the Traveling Skull, maybe.
From the opening of Chapter 65:
Halsey stared at the other. He felt his spirits suddenly dropping far into his toes. His polka-dotted silk-encased toes, just now, for he had been just about to hunt his shoes in that dark unknown terrain under his bed, wrestle his way into them, lace them up, and be fully dressed. But now, at the gravity in Baxter’s tone, and a sudden mental picture of that great undeveloped land of ice, forests, mountains and winding rivers with utterly uninhabited banks, as well as the thought of possibly having to hunt a man over that vast area, he proceeded to quite abandon such a prosaic thing as hunting a mere pair of shoes. He passed a hand dazedly over his forehead, then managed to speak:
“Alaska, Artemus? Alaska? Good God!”
The book, typically of HSK, is bonkers. There’s a long run - several chapters worth - of tech talk explaining a futuristic audio-visual transmission process which is the most tedious thing I can remember reading (published in 1932, The Box from Japan takes place in 1942). Still, though, when Keeler’s on a roll he’s a lot of fun.
As always with Keeler, beware of the author’s unique brand of racism. Just about everyone not a Chicago WASP gets a dose here.
If you’ve already familiar with Keeler and are interested in taking a stab at The Box from Japan, be forewarned: much of it’s a chore. If you haven’t read Keeler and want to give it a go, don’t. Start with his The Riddle of the Traveling Skull, maybe.
From the opening of Chapter 65:
Halsey stared at the other. He felt his spirits suddenly dropping far into his toes. His polka-dotted silk-encased toes, just now, for he had been just about to hunt his shoes in that dark unknown terrain under his bed, wrestle his way into them, lace them up, and be fully dressed. But now, at the gravity in Baxter’s tone, and a sudden mental picture of that great undeveloped land of ice, forests, mountains and winding rivers with utterly uninhabited banks, as well as the thought of possibly having to hunt a man over that vast area, he proceeded to quite abandon such a prosaic thing as hunting a mere pair of shoes. He passed a hand dazedly over his forehead, then managed to speak:
“Alaska, Artemus? Alaska? Good God!”
December 18, 2024
I often thought this to be my favorite Keeler, and I have read it at least twice. But will I again?? At 900+ pages, if I recall, this is one of Keeler's biggest selfstanding stories. And it is a doozy.
Not only because of his webwork plot - not only because of the wackadoodle hypothetical future Keeler planned for us - not only because of the obsessions about boxes from Japan and fancy fountain pens and the Wrigley building...
Keeler actually tests how far he can go off the rails with the internal logic of reading a story here, toying with the reader in ways that remind me of the friggin' films of Godard. Challenging the reader to say, "That can't be!" or "This situation isn't plausible!"
If you are an exclaimer of those things, then beware this book, and beware of yourself. Keeler could find other ways to show up on your doorstep - so grab a copy today, from a reputable humble vendor of used libros, rather than some megamoney corporation.
Not only because of his webwork plot - not only because of the wackadoodle hypothetical future Keeler planned for us - not only because of the obsessions about boxes from Japan and fancy fountain pens and the Wrigley building...
Keeler actually tests how far he can go off the rails with the internal logic of reading a story here, toying with the reader in ways that remind me of the friggin' films of Godard. Challenging the reader to say, "That can't be!" or "This situation isn't plausible!"
If you are an exclaimer of those things, then beware this book, and beware of yourself. Keeler could find other ways to show up on your doorstep - so grab a copy today, from a reputable humble vendor of used libros, rather than some megamoney corporation.
September 29, 2025
Despite there being a Challenge to the Reader, the book is completely unsolvable, but is also undeniably fun for every step of the way.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews