The Will of an Eccentric

Published in 1900, The Will of an Eccentric (original French: Le Testament d'un excentrique) is one of Jules Verne's most delightfully original inventions — a novel structured as a board game played across the entire expanse of the United States. The game begins with a death: William Hypperbone, a Chicago millionaire of spectacular eccentricity, leaves his entire fortune not to a relative, but to whichever of six randomly selected participants completes a journey across the country according to the rules of a game he has personally designed.

The mechanics are ingenious. The United States is divided into squares, each corresponding to a state or territory, and the players advance by rolling dice that determine their destination. There is no board but the nation itself; no tokens but the players, who must physically travel to the cities and towns dictated by each throw. Max Réal, Hypperbone's friend and appointed executor, presides over this extraordinary competition, ensuring that the dead man's mad vision is carried out with scrupulous fairness.

The contestants could not be more varied. Tom Crabbe, a hulking and simple-natured giant, lumbers across the map with an innocence that may prove his greatest asset. Jovita Foley, a sharp-witted woman of determination, brings both intelligence and grit to the chase. Kély, a more mysterious competitor, keeps his own counsel as the game unfolds. Each player's character is tested by the distances, the unexpected detours, and the sheer caprice of fortune that the dice represent.

Verne uses the premise to paint a vivid portrait of turn-of-the-century America — its railroads, its vast landscapes, its burgeoning cities and empty spaces. But beneath the game lies a gentle meditation on luck, perseverance, and the strange shapes that destiny can take when it is governed by the throw of a die. The Will of an Eccentric is Verne at his most playful, a literary game that invites the reader to wonder who will reach the final square first — and what they will have discovered about themselves along the way.