The Man Who Fell to Earth is a 1963 science-fiction novel by American writer Walter Tevis. Published by Gold Medal Books as a paperback original, it was Tevis's second novel, following The Hustler. The novel follows Thomas Jerome Newton, an extraterrestrial from the drought-stricken planet Anthea, who comes to Earth hoping to build a spacecraft that can save the surviving members of his species.
The novel has been discussed as one of Tevis's most personal works. Tevis later described it as a disguised autobiography, connecting Newton's alienness to his own experiences of childhood illness, displacement, and estrangement. Critical discussion has also emphasized the novel's treatment of loneliness, alcoholism, failed assimilation, corporate power, and the destructive force of human institutions.
Contemporary reviewers gave the novel a mixed-to-positive response, praising Tevis's handling of Newton while sometimes treating the alien-visitor premise as familiar. Later criticism has been more favorable, placing the novel within both science-fiction and literary traditions and distinguishing it from more conventional adventure or hard-science-fiction narratives.
The Man Who Fell to Earth has been adapted several times. The best-known adaptation is the 1976 film directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring David Bowie as Newton. Later adaptations include a 1987 ABC television pilot aired as a television film, the stage musical Lazarus, and a 2022 Showtime television series.
Background and publication
The Man Who Fell to Earth was published in 1963 by Gold Medal Books, an imprint of Fawcett Publications.
External links
- Transcript of "book club" discussion on Kentucky Educational Television
- Entry at The Internet Speculative Fiction Database