My Petition For More Space: A Novel

A street in New Haven. A line of people, blocks long, more closely packed than the rush-hour subways of the good old times.
Poynter has been on the line since before dawn, as are thousands of others, pressed together, waiting their turns at the window to present their individual petitions. His is for more space—a notion so preposterous that when it is discovered it shocks, reverberates down the line, almost triggering violent reactions. In front of Poynter, so tightly jammed against him th...