The Man Who Folded Himself (1973)

Another of the books I read multiple times in my teens. Looking back on it, I can't say it's the most well written book I've ever beheld, nor was it as brave and strong as it could have been, but to my young mind it was crisp and new and bright as a fresh apple on a cool fall day. As a book about time travel, it has a few twists that might seem passe to a reader now, but they were new then. A few of the book's images still linger in my mind, and I can't see it without hearing in my head the song "I'm My Own Grandpa." ( )

I had been looking for this book for ages because the premise sounded interesting. When I finally found it, I got it right away.

Now I kinda wish I had kept it on my wish list so I could imagine how good this book could be... now the bubble has burst...

Was it terrible? No, not exactly, but it was very... hmmm... self-congratulatory and egotistic. The author has a footnote at the end of the book which I think was intended to explain the rationale behind a component of the story, but really just drove it home that the main character *was* the author which means the author thinks he's so wonderful he wants to have sex with himself.

He wasn't that wonderful. And the sex scenes were beyond lame: "oh baby, oh wow, oh baby" (yes, I'm serious). And every character (literally) was the same - even when they were supposed to be different incarnations, they ended up being the same. Even the female version.

Oh, alright, I'll admit it... it is pretty bad... do I want my money back? Not quite, but very close.

The time travel component was actually quite intriguing (and nicely complicated sometimes), I just couldn't get over the "I'm so wonderful I'm just going to fold myself" (go ahead - replace the 'old' with 3 other letters).

The Man Who Folded Himself, by David Gerrold, has been on my “to read” list for many years. It is a widely acclaimed time-travel novel that was first published in 1973, and it was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1973 and the Hugo Award and the Locus Award in 1974. It was not selected as a best science fiction book by those awards voters. However, it has been widely mentioned as perhaps the best time-travel novel ever written. I believe the accuracy of that suggestion depends upon how one defines “best time-travel novel.” For readers who want a story with lots of suspense and excitement, along with an assortment of well-defined diverse characters including an appealing protagonist, and a satisfying ending, this book may not make the grade. However, for readers who want the concept of time-travel and its paradoxes explored in detail within the confines of logic and scientific thought this book should definitely be considered one of the best time-travel novels ever written. Daniel Eakins inherits a “time belt” from his deceased uncle, who has been supporting him. In addition, Daniel discovers that there is no longer enough money left from his uncle’s estate to support him. Of course, Daniel quickly discovers how to use the time belt to make as much money as he could ever want. In addition, he also uses it to make nonlinear time visits throughout history and into the future completely at his whim, without concerns about temporal paradoxes. Over time, he (and the reader) learns that he does not move though time Instead each “trip” creates and new timestream, including a new Daniel Eakins that lives on within the new timestream. When a Daniel Eakins chooses to make a temporal jump he continues living in the new time stream, while his previous Daniel Eakins continues living in the previous timestream. As each time traveler continues to create new timestreams, and additional David Eakins, they eventually they learn how to meet up with each other and things get complicated. In addition, all time travelers continue to age at a normal rate no matter how often, or in which direction (past or future), they travel and eventually they die. It’s a complex storyline and more than a little counterintuitive, but I believe the separated timestreams provides a satisfying way to cope with possible paradoxes. Of course, this book also has a continuing story about the human experiences, interactions, and relationships between the many Daniel Eakins characters. I found this short book to be a very interesting read and I certainly recommend it to anyone who likes time-travel books. This BenBella (2003) eBook, Kindle edition, includes an introduction by Robert J. Sawyer, which presents information about David Gerrold and his career. It also includes an author’s note at the end, where Gerrold provides more information about his life, and an afterword by Geoffrey Klempner that provides a very helpful explanation of “time travel” as Gerrold viewed it. ( )

I picked this book up purely because it is a 70s sci-fi novel, and I love those, most of the time. Later on I read some comments online that this is a pretty weird book with too much weird sex. And I can't say I really disagree with this.
It is the story of Danny, who receives a time-travelling belt from his old uncle who died of old age. He hops through time and slightly alternate universes, mostly spending time with himself and a version of himself. This makes it pretty hard to keep track of the story, as he is constantly travelling backwards and forwards to tell himself things, to party with himself, to help himself. Even for him it gets hard to keep apart sometimes. Like some other reviewers on LibraryThing have said, there is some pretty weird sex in this book (gay sex with himself, threesomes with himselfs, sex with a female version of himself....) and I am not quite sure this was necessary for the book, but whatever. It is an interesting view on time/dimension travelling, and an ok read. Three out of five stars. ( )

Rating: 4.875* of five

The Book Report: Danny's been livin' the high life, thanks to a bequest from his mysterious old uncle. One day, the gravy train ends, and Danny has to make his own way. With a belt. A very special time-travel-enabling belt.

An exploration of adolescent exceptionalism, a meditation on the establishment, building, and defense of identity, and an astonishingly rare representation of gay maleness in science fiction. The author, who penned "The Trouble with Tribbles" for the original "Star Trek" series, tackles all this heaviness in less than 200pp, and never makes it feel like any tackling is being done.

My Review: Deft and timely even now. Gerrold's unapologetically gay Danny is mildly surprising even in the modern SFnal world. The ewww-ick-they-do-WHAT? homophobes need fear nothing, there's no raunch in Danny's journey of self-discovery (of a sort I've never seen again!).

For my teenaged self, this book blew into my life at a time when I was under emotional siege from the forces of Jesus. It was a lifeline thrown from a grown person to my too-young-to-run self. If he could write this book, there was a world that didn't loathe me, because here was something written, published, and sold with me in it! I endured many a screaming, hectoring, sermonizing hour thinking that thought.

If you suspect some youth of your acquaintance might be struggling to think positively of himself because he's probably gay, think about giving him this book. It can't hurt, and it might do him a world of good. ( )