The Man In The Tree [Mass Market Paperback]

Damon Knight (Author), Carl Lundgren (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Books; 1st edition (1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425060063
• ISBN-13: 978-0425060063
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,191,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another `Messiah for the New Age' Tale, October 31, 2006

By 

Melissa McCauley (North Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man in the Tree (Hardcover)

Gene Anderson is born in Oregon to a carpenter and his wife after WWII. As a child, he discovers the strange ability to reach into alternate universes, thereby enabling him to `copy' things, such as the ever-handy cash. Gene is an outcast at school because of his larger-than-normal size, and ends up on the road by himself at the age of nine after the accidental death of a small-town bully. The bully's father, the local sheriff, chases Gene for revenge for most of the rest of his life.

Gene studies art, writes poetry, and copies enough diamonds to make himself super-rich. After a life in SoHo with an artist, then a career as a giant (he reaches eight and a half feet) in the circuses of America and Europe, the wealthy Gene retires to a private compound in Florida, from which he decides to embark on a short career as the new Messiah, with predictable results.

The story starts strong and interesting, but soon grinds almost to a halt in technical details, goes off on tangents or around in circles. I couldn't help but think of a poorly executed copy of Robert Heinlein's classic STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. If you are interested in this subject, read Heinlein, it is much more satisfying.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Meandering Tale, November 27, 2005

By 

ʇɐɔ ʇəʍ ☁ (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man in the Tree (Hardcover)

"The Man in the Tree" is the first Damon Knight novel I've read. I wish it had been more tightly written. Much time is spent on a pedestrian, obsessed-cop strand of the story. We wait and wait for our protagonist to discover the extent of his supernatural power and then decide what to do with it. Detours through life-as-a-New-York-artist and life-in-a-traveling-circus are interesting for themselves, but don't ramp up well to the mythic ending.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous "re-readable" classic, February 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Man In The Tree (Mass Market Paperback)

A book I reserve for the "classics" section on my shelf. It has a strong spiritual content but is never "preachy" and has been thoroughly enjoyed by many of my friends. An ending that can make you doubt and, at the same time, believe in humanity. The book can make you think about the beginnings of Christianity, how religions and sects can take hold and prosper in society, and how societies then react. All in all, very uplifting and one I have re-read dozens of times over the years. Now that I know it is out of print, I am delighted that I have a copy.