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Budrys, Algis
MAN OF EARTH
book-date: 1958
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GRADING:
Ballantine
1958
1st
Paperback
Richard Powers
.35
VG to VG+

Algis Budrys' third novel (from 1958) - Man of Earth. This is revised from a shorter version in Satellite October 1956 (as "The Man from Earth.") I read my copy decades ago and liked it, but rely on a review from Galaxy November 1958 for a decent summary/set-up...

"Budrys has cut a complex tale from simple cloth. What will a man do with his life if given, not only a fresh start, but a spanking new identity and physiognomy? The consensus of authors who have previously tried this tack is: not much. Budrys disagrees. He feels that certain characteristics can be acquired with a different physique. His protagonist, a soft, cowardly market manipulator, is about to lose his illicitly acquired commercial empire to the SEC. To avoid personal punishment, he permits the misleadingly named Doncaster Industrial Linens to exchange his plump softness and hard cash for tall musculature and limp pocket. Additionally, Doncaster dumps him on Pluto with no way to buy his return from the bankrupt colony. However, the locals are organizing a crack, brutally disciplined army and his lack of other qualifications make him a natural GI. This is where you can agree or disagree with Budrys. Is it reasonable for Sibley to harden outside from mind of steal to man of steel? One of Budrys' other main characters is a person only in the legal sense with surprising motives... " [-Floyd C. Gale]